The future is on fire for the technology companies, and the competition between them will allow us to bring the future described in the science fiction books earlier than expected * The initiative to build humanoid robots - or androids - belongs to Andy Rubin, the developer of the Android operating system, and there is probably a connection between the two
Yesterday, the New York Times reported that Google offers an idea with a futuristic vision in another sector of our lives - building humanoid robots that can help us with all the housework. This was revealed by Andy Rubin, the man who was responsible at Google for the development of the Android operating system. As we know in science fiction books and movies, an android is simply a humanoid robot, as opposed to just a barrel-like robot or an industrial robot which is basically just a set of arms. And indeed it makes sense for Android to be the operating system for Androids.
In March of this year, Rubin, who previously worked at Zeiz and Apple, retired from his role as Android leader but remained to work at Google on other projects.
The humanoid robot is not the first product in the field of intelligent automatic systems that Google is developing, as I recall, it is also developing a driverless car. The company did not specify its exact plans in the field of robotics. In the first phase, these robots will work in production lines and free the humans to perform more important jobs and those that do not require routine repetition of the same process.
In the same topic on the science website:
- Computers will take over our lives completely (article from 2007)
- Asimov's laws of robotics will become the software that will control military robots
- Robots in our image and likeness
It is believed that this sudden advance of the future by Google came in response to the announcement of another large company. Last week, Amazon revealed that it plans to develop drones that will deliver packages within half an hour. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos revealed in the program "60 Minutes": drones that can deliver packages of up to five kilograms to the customer's home in less than half an hour. The "Amazon Prime Air" program is an imitation of a local Australian program that should operate experimentally within about a year, however, unlike Australia, America has aviation regulation, and the FAA has not yet given its opinion on the project. Of course, development is still required so that the packages do not fall on someone's head.
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Haim Mazar
You talked about a strict system of laws that would prevent terrorist activity - not me.
Miracles
No normative behavior should be expected from terrorist organizations, by definition they are not and cannot be such, but it is the duty of a state to be aware of the problematic nature of these developments and to take preliminary steps which I mention in my response. If terrorist organizations move to normative behavior they will no longer be terrorists. If you would like to delve deeper into the subject, the appropriate literature is in political science. There is a book by Edward Lutbeck that discusses the subject. I don't remember the name right now. The book is also available in Hebrew.
Haim Mazar
It doesn't seem to me that terrorist organizations follow laws.
A drone for sending deliveries could be a considerable security problem. The first to jump on this development will be terrorist organizations. Legislation will be needed to prevent this problematic development.. At first glance, it will be necessary to obtain a license to manufacture these drones and it will be necessary to obtain a license to buy this product, including the presentation of a certificate of integrity from the police. Similar to the production and purchase of guns. Any production or purchase of such a drone without a legal permit will be considered a criminal offense and will be accompanied by heavy penalties. Each drone will need to be stamped with the name of the manufacturing company and a serial number
One might think that today the factories are not full of robots (car factories, electronics...)
For manufacturing plants, the robot doesn't have to look like a human. In fact, all offshore manufacturing plants, without exception, are controlled by industrial robots of various forms. The people as a whole manage the production processes and the decisions of what to produce.
Humanoid robots will have a use, if at all, as helpers at home (maintenance, cleaning, entertainment, etc.). Even the noxious smartphones and home computers are a kind of robots, only without the human form. Whether humans will accept human robots is a psychological question at all. Humans may see them as a threat and/or competitors for their private lives. For example, would a woman want some handsome robot walking around her house, or vice versa, would the man want some handsome robot walking around his wife all day (and night)?
It is not certain that humanoid robots will actually lead to mass layoffs in the long term. With the entry of the first computers into the market, it quickly became clear that skilled workers were needed for this purpose. There is a need for programmers, systems analysts, maintenance people, lecturers who will train the next generation to develop robots, etc. One of the basic concepts in economics is frictional unemployment. This type of unemployment occurs when, following the development of new technologies, various professions disappear and, following new technologies, new professions develop. This process can be short and it can be long and in both cases it is a painful process. The fired person does not care what the reason for his situation is. He has to support a family. The economists at the macro level should be aware of this. You never know what the future professions will be. Try to imagine that you travel back in time and meet people from the 18th or 19th century and talk to them about routers in airports or car electricians. They will not understand what it is about. For them it will be like Chinese.
The more society progresses, the more the emphasis shifts from production to fair distribution.
Then the tycoons will simply buy robots, robots that don't get sick or waste time, robots that don't join excessive demands such as "respectable salary" or "pension".
At the beginning of the era of industrial machines, people were happy and thought that the time that the machines gain, will reduce the long working hours, hmm it didn't exactly happen, the opposite
Even now they are trying to explain to us that this will free the workers for other jobs, but what will happen is mass layoffs all over the world
Amazon, Apple, the textile industry, all of these are under fire day and night for inadequate employment conditions, these companies "waste" billions to save themselves from lawsuits, imagine that these companies will decide that it is more profitable for them to buy robots and get rid of human workers wherever possible, the thought of it is simple creepy
And yes, these robots can be excellent for dozens of tasks that can really save lives, putting a robot into a nuclear reactor for repair tasks, mining, etc., but the human race has always preferred to exaggerate the amazing developments in "immoral" directions
There is no need and no point in building a humanoid robot.
It's akin to wanting to build an IBM-compatible computer in the form of a human…