Robot goes berserk in Balkan lab: 6 boffins given dead arms The location: Deep in remote East-central Europe, the very stamping grounds of Igor and Dr Frankenstein. The scene: A laboratory, where dedicated scientists are toiling to create powerful artificial servants for the betterment of humanity - admittedly, using methods that their professional colleagues might deem questionable. …
The zeroeth law might be triggered (that's the boffin's excuse after all).
"A robot may not harm humanity, or, by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm"
You could argue that obeying the first law requires a knowledge of human pain thresholds and physical durability. Beating up scientists in order to obtain that information might be justifiable for the good of the species. After all the zeroeth law apparently allowed at least two robots to inflict pain and suffering on millions of people, meddle with the space-time continuum and put the entire species at risk
Mine's the one with the full set of Foundation stories(*) in the pocket.
(*)Yes, even /End of Eternity/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_End_of_Eternity#Role_in_the_.22Foundation.22_series
WTF? Indeed.
Josef Megele was a roboticist as well? Who knew?
Bit of renaissance man then. Specifically the sort who were busily working the thumb screws, racks, iron maidens and choking pears in order to keep science going in the right direction at the time of the renaissance.......
"Determining the limits of pain during robot-human impacts this way will allow the design of robot motions that cannot exceed these limits,"
So their reasoning is, people are still going to get beaten, just not to death anymore.
Then again, this is coming from the same mob who created the killer robots in the first place...
Till that minor issue is addressed, I welcome our new shiny-assed overlords.
Follow the links to the New Scientist article: the whole thing was a designed experiment to test human pain thresholds: "But the robo-battering is all in a good cause, insists Borut Povše, who has ethical approval for the work from the University of Ljubljana, where he conducted the research. He has persuaded six male colleagues to let a powerful industrial robot repeatedly strike them on the arm, to assess human-robot pain thresholds."
I am shocked, Mr. Page, that you have failed to note the contributions of one of the United States' most prominent experimentalists in this field. In 1929, I believe, Mr. Al Capone arranged an experiment to determine the amount of damage that could be inflicted by a baseball bat on a human being. Please note, those of you who think "cricket" when you hear "bat," that baseball bats are round in the minor dimensions, not flat like cricket bats..
To further his scientific pursuits, Mr. Capone held an hours-long, booze-filled feast for scores of his associates to "honor" three of his employees whom he regarded as traitors. At the end of Mr. Capone's toasts to the three, his bodyguards tied the guests of honor to their chairs and gagged them. Mr. Capone picked up a baseball bat, walked around the very long table, and clubbed, in turn, each of the "traitors" multiple times.
Long story short--all three men died, and the baseball bat in the hands of a psychopath was proven to be capable of lethality. Why the Slovenian experiments did not continue until the robot's lethality had been assessed, I do not know. I regard this error as evidence of a Slovenian failure to fully embrace the scientific method. These Slovenian failures will continue to haunt their scientific endeavors until they adopt "Western" practices.
Previously, in robot arm + human arm stabby stabby: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10102398 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMh6cHSG3ng .
And from the same folks, we've got robot-assisted being-hit-on-the-head lessons: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5Gx8jpwyQ0
I look forward to the day when robots are skilled at all the important forms of human interaction --- bludgeoning, punching, stabbing, slicing ... who knows, perhaps even taunting and pushing.
Many arts use joint manipulation to cause posture instability, throw, inflict pain, subdue or out-right break the joint. These methods evolved over centuries of study, practice and visits to the bone-saw to have limbs re-set.
I propose that in the immediate future we need to study the articulations our robot nemeses (or nemesi, if you prefer) and apply the same thinking. We need to ensure that our puny meat-power passes through the robo-killers' areas of greatest weakness and bring them down, should an EMP weapon not be readily to hand.
Suggestions of names of this future-art greatly appreciated.
Funny
Slaves:
slave (n.)
late 13c., "person who is the property of another," from O.Fr. esclave (13c.), from M.L. Sclavus "slave" (cf. It. schiavo, Fr. esclave, Sp. esclavo), originally "Slav" (see Slav), so called because of the many Slavs sold into slavery by conquering peoples.
Robot:
from Czech robotnik "slave," from robota "forced labor, drudgery," from robotiti "to work, drudge," from an Old Czech source akin to Old Church Slavonic rabota "servitude," from rabu "slave"
Funny to refer to the robot as a slave (Slav) when its creators are Slavs, and robot is a slavic word.
Made me funny anyway.
. a large batch of this machines has appeared in Guantanamo Bay under a deal of which details are labelled National Security.
"It's a great day for America", claimed a spokesman, "we can now assure the public that no Americans are involved in torture. Holding them down, maybe, but not inflicting pain".
Rumours that scientists were working on waterboarding algorithms were dismissed as "merely informed speculation", with the reporting journalists declining invitations to "come and see for themselves".
Sorry, I'm in a sarcastic mood. I'll get some coffee now.
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