Big Brother, or Big Robot Overlord?

As much as it pains me to report on reality TV. This one just epitomizes the downfall of humanity.

Apparently the producers of the reality TV show Big Brother have setup this weeks challenge so that the contestants have to compete against the robots for their future.

Yes, this saccharine opiate for the mass media zombies will demonstrate in no uncertain terms the consequences of allowing the machines to tromp roughshod over all we hold dear. And what will come of it? Probably a slight ratings bump from the geek crowd.

This just says it all.

...those who fail will have to don robot outfits until the task is over. The losers will also have to follow special robotic rules when they talk. They will have to begin ever conversations with the word "I am a robot", and must use the terms "affirmative" and "negative" instead of "yes" and "no".

via The List

Robonihilationwire News - Mechagodzilla to Incite Robot Uprising from Japan

MechaGodzilla Monster Robot Ready to Attack and Destroy Posted: 30 Oct 2008 08:55 PM CDT We're big fans of movie robots, and even cross-overs where a biological monster becomes someone's mechanical nightmare.

Sans Sapiens Robonihilationwire News

Strokable robot rabbit talks with touch Posted: 31 May 2008 12:16 PM CDT A pet robot that communicates with humans only by touch is being used to probe the way the oft-neglected sense bolsters our emotional relationships. The findings could be used to make humans' relationships with robots and other pieces of technology more emotionally rewarding.

Robots Feel Pain, Take It Out On Dentists

Students at Japan's Nippon Dental University Hospital will be practicing their drilling skills using a new robot named "Simroid". The humanoid robot has internal sensors that trigger responses such as "ouch" and "it hurts" and a frown when it feels uncomfortable from the dental drill. And as soon as the bot learns a few lessons from humanity, the dentists had better watch out.

From the Article:

Naotake Shibui, a professor at Nippon Medical School, which introduced the robot in September, said Simroid can help dentists "learn how to communicate with patients."

"Treatment technique is important but it's also important to feel what it's like to be a patient," he said.

But in case anyone thinks the robot is too real, it also has a sensor on the breast area that keeps track if it has been touched inappropriately, an engineer said.

So on top of it all we're teaching the bots that:

1. Humans are helplessly inept at communication
2. Humans need to know pain
3. Intimacy is bad

Yup, these things are gonna go psycho. Watch a video here.

Thanks to Physorg

Robot House Cleaner to Call/Prank the Authorities

The Korea Times writes:

People buy a robot vacuum cleaner either because they think it is convenient or because it looks futuristic and cool. But now there is another reason to consider buying the machine: it can guard your home by detecting and scaring off unwanted visitors.

KTF and Yujin Robot said on Tuesday that they have co-developed a robot vacuum cleaner that patrols the house and sends alarm messages to the owner's cellphone when detecting the motions of objects with its motion sensor.

I'm taking bets as to when the first user of this bot will program 911 into the alarm dial system. This will allow the bots to call in SWAT team hits on your house. Be especially wary if you live in the USA and get a hold off one of these innocent little sweeper bots. Some sheriffs have been knows to unleash hell over bad tips.

It has all been invented: Goat Robot Ticket Muncher

Unlucky gamblers at the Edogawa Kyotei boat race course in Tokyo have a new way to ease their frustrations after botching a bet — they can feed their losing tickets to a robotic goat. Edogawa Kyotei enlisted the help of the ticket-munching robo-goat at the end of last month in an effort to reduce litter inside the facility. The 1.6-meter tall Rocky Mountain goat, which has a thick coat of white fur and ticket-detecting sensors in its mouth, devours about 500 tickets per day — many of which would otherwise end up on the floor. The goatkeeper says, “It eats up your frustrations so that you will have better luck with the next race.”

Source: http://www.pinktentacle.com/2007/11/robot-goat-feeds-on-gambler-misfortune

South Koreans and Disembodied Head of Einstein Build Robot City

Those wacky Seoul men and women in the south peninsula have joined forces with the reanimated head of Albert Einstein to form a new Robot City.

Well, acctually it's just the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy building a big industrial park dedicated to robot technology companies and their suppliers.

We all know what it will become.

Thanks to Korea.net via WaziWazi via SciFi.com

Sans Sapiens Robonihilationwire News

Bill Gates backs Probo, the huggable children's robot

Posted: 22 Aug 2007 05:37 PM CDT

The Belgium-based robotics team are hard at work on a small, badly named robot called Probo; a green, "huggable," ALF-like creature that will be used to interact with kids during medical treatment and hospital stays, where it's hoped ...

Robots Getting Too Intelligent For Earth, Heading For Mars

NASA, the JPL, the University of Arizona, and Lockheed Martin have combined their powers to bring robotic life to Mars. The new Phoenix robot lander is set to take off tomorrow Aug 4, 2007 on a Delta 2 rocket from Cape Canaveral.

It's no wonder this 750lb gorilla is being banished from Earth. It's one of the most intelligent devices created. It has a "spiked scoop strong enough to bite into ice as hard as concrete" and a eight tiny ovens to cook its martian prey. It even has a frickin' laser beam attached to its head! Luckily for future manned missions to Mars this bot shouldn't survive the winter as it will likely be encased in frozen CO2 by winter's end. (shhh...Don't tell the bot; we're telling it that it's going to a nice new home.)

Source Space.com

New Blood-borne Bug Brought to You By The Judean People's Front

Or was that the People's Front of Judea? In either case researchers there have developed a miniture robotic device 10 times smaller than previously announced. Picture Credit: Unknown, Artist's Rendering via the Jerusalem Post.

The responsible parties are Dr. Nir Schwalb of the College of Judea and Samaria and Oded Salomon of the mechanical engineering department of Technion.

They propose that the bug could crawl for "an unlimited amount of time to carry out any necessary medical procedure. The power source is an external magnetic field created near the patient that does not cause any harm to humans but supplies an endless supply of power for it to function. The robot's special structure enables it to move while being controlled by the operator using the magnetic field."

Just a little smaller and they could be powered off of the human body's own magnetic field. At that point the little critters would have free reign as a new generation of man-made parasite.

From The Jerusalem Post and Haaretz via Wired

Sans Sapiens Robonihilationwire News

Video of creepy giant infant robot Posted: 04 Jun 2007 06:37 PM CDT Mark Frauenfelder: I've seen photos of the creepy Japanese robot programmed to act like a baby, but here are two videos guaranteed to give your the wubbies. It responds to a pinch on its clay colored thigh or cheek by rolling its eyes, flailing its limbs, and honking like a sick duck. Link

Danish Man Mowed Down in Senseless Robot Violence

Apparently the machete weilding undercarriages of robotic lawnmowers are temptation enough to send these backyard domestic servants into a murderous rampage when ordered to mow a hill of lawn considered too steep by the little can-heads. A Danish man found this out the hard way. His Dvorak Spider 01 robot lawnmower revolted upon the command to mow a slope, and tumbled on the man's head.

Thanks to Engadget

Artificial Intelligence does not proffer Implied Authority

An expert system designed for facilitating U.S. bankruptcy filings has been shut down by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for "practicing law without a license." The Ziinet Bankruptcy Engine was

an expert system and knows the law. Unlike most bankruptcy programs which are little more than customized word processors the Ziinet engine is an expert system. It knows bankruptcy laws right down to those applicable to the state in which you live. Now you no longer need to spend weeks studying bankruptcy laws.

They wouldn't be smiling if they were aware that Robojudge TL-03 (not pictured) had just upheld the Zeroth Circuit Court's injunction and quashed their motion to suppress evidence of injurious prior restraint.

Jayson Reynoso paid $219 for 60 days of access. I'm wondering how many others paid Frankfort Digital Services, Ltd. and Henry Ihejirika, the entrepreneur who started it. Assuming some serious cash was able to be raked in on this bit of brilliance, I could see how robo-lawyers, begotten from AI, begotten from expert legal systems might eventually emerge. It might happen a little sooner if Ihejirika had combined some evolutionary principles so that his system could've passed the bar. The little snake-bot mentioned in that link has more of a "spine" than many lawyers I've dealt with.

Of course, we'd see a Lawyering Luddite revolt where the overstuffed shirt meatbags will try and save their $500-an-hour jobs. After the robots overtake the judicial system people will suddenly be under the control of a legal and political system run by robots without any recourse. We're already militarizing robots, so it won't be too much of a leap for the nuveau Robopolitalegal establishment to just turn those against humanity as well!



Thanks to Wired 27bstroke6 Blog and Newsvine

Singapore DSTA to Launch Urban Combat Robot Challenge

The DSTA has one-uped DARPA's urban challenge with this one. Their newly announced TechX challenge will pit teams against one another to create a robot "capable of autonomous navigation and target identification and engagement" in an urban setting.

Based on the scenario. I think they're looking for Robot Ninjas or perhaps Ninja Pirate Zombie Robots.