Yeh, I know what you mean. Until the other half says "get up you lazy B.. and get it yourself. We're not buying one of those! And if you do get one I will tell it to say that to you! Pass me the remote will you?"
"Cheers."
Tom, of course I'm being the DA )!) here but with technologies that are rising (and extending) today such as walking robotics, voice responding apps, tech in the home, neural programming, all will integrate under the pressure of competition. Probably spin-off stuff.
" You are confusing science fact with science fiction." Really? Science fact plus innovation gives us what we have today and that WILL change in a 'positive' way. I think Sci-Fi extends our thoughts about what we desire and there must be a drive in that direction. The near future generations will be mad to try any new tech as it comes out. They do now but not me I'm an old codger (but you probably have a different view of me). You talk of atom sized nano whatsits but I'm pushed to see how an atom sized anything can be anything other than an atom. I wonder if you are despondent about future tech having obviously gained a lot of expertise as I deduce from your replies and I grant that comes from being active in forums around the world. The companion side we should not get too hung up on. Maybe that was the wrong term but we will have apps soon then probably a talking dog which doesn't eat, etc. People will fall in love with a furry robot which initially will trip it's owner up (neither looking where they are going!). My argument about fear sticks I think. People say they 'fear' but that fear is not going to be stoked by a massive step towards the reasons for it. Grant every Human the common sense to accept something if it doesn't shoot them first. Advances in tech are dribbled out to the population at large. There will always be activists but mostly they are a minority. I guess for the original post I shall continue to hone my ideas about what might be possible considering your points as I go (which I have copied into my local notes–I guess that's allowed).
I personally believe we will continue to see robots as task-based servants for the foreseeable future. They may have some limited AI (making them androids), and thus be able to function in some more general home-servant capacity (thinking Rosie, from the Jetsons), but I don't see them being companion-material. Even if you could make the AI adaptive, where it could learn over time, the amount of adapting that would be needed for a companion (other than a physical one) is quite a ways off.
Besides, the costs needed to get this into every home would be prohibitive unless you first introduce the technology into something that could make huge profits on it in the first place. Other than the military, which likely wouldn't then let go of the technology, I don't see anything that would reap those rewards.
Maybe Elon Musk will finance it...if so, all bets are off.
Science fact plus innovation gives us what we have today and that WILL change in a 'positive' way. I think Sci-Fi extends our thoughts about what we desire and there must be a drive in that direction.
For science fiction fans probably so but most people are NOT science fiction fans or even science fiction minded. Most people are locked into their own immediate worlds. They dream of immediate gratification. Scifi fans are geared to fantasize about what could be. They look for the 'next step' of things. Granted, many people have a mild curiosity for tech trends but not to the degree of a scifi fan.
This emphasizes my point. There are many aspects of real science and science fiction which are beyond peoples ability to conceptualize. Yet, nanotechnology already exists. The future of nanotechnology has major beneficial and significant possible futures. Yet there are people who don't understand it or are inherently afraid of it which keeps the technology from progressing at a faster rate. You mention nanotechnology to people and they will either have complete ignorance or will cite the "Grey Goo" scenario.
The same conditions apply for any cutting edge science. Genetics, AI, Robotics, Particle Physics, Quantum Computing and so on. Each of these possess benefits to mankind yet we read and hear about the horrors and fears of people who are not science fiction minded and THAT keeps the major science breakthrus at bay. Its the "ignorance of potential syndrome".
That is old technology and it didn't stick. There was even a Tamagotchi which required you to take care of it and it trended for a bit but interest tapered off. There is a problem even with household robotics taking hold. Look at the Roomba. Do you have a Roomba? I don't have one...I don't even know anyone else that has one or even had one. Yet it is touted to be a common household robotic appliance. You can even get a Terramower which is a roomba based robotic lawn mower. Know anybody who has one of those?
That isn't true. The world is full of people that can't accept anything. I know people who refuse to have a computer in their home still. The have a fear of the device for one reason or another but mostly from a fear of invasion of privacy (many from a fear of a violation of religious doctrine).
For years I refused to have a cell phone and I still don't really use mine except as a phone. I never text on it and I never go on the web with it. Most of the time I forget to take it with me when I leave. I don't fear it but I don't like it.
Most human behavior roots in fear of one thing or another.
How can you say that? Don't you watch the NEWS? The entire civilized world is comprised of activists. You can't hear about anything without someone protesting or publicly challenging it.
People have become extremely opinionated. Seems everyone wants to be heard, wants people to take sides, can't let things happen without making a big deal out of it. With our world-wide communication everybody is into everybody else's business. Everyone is an authority on everything.
Even if you could make the AI adaptive, where it could learn over time, the amount of adapting that would be needed for a companion (other than a physical one) is quite a ways off.
Consider this:
An AI that adapts has the ability to rewrite its own programming. While some of the code will be rewritten over itself some of the code will require more space (memory, hard drive, cooling). The magical positronic brain doesn't exist. More software requires more supporting hardware.
As the AI adapts its CPU will need to expand. Depending upon the complexity if the adaptation, your household android would soon out-grow its environment.
Unless... The CPU is not contained in the unit. At that point, the unit becomes a slave robot of the AI and not the AI itself.
This was suggested in the Netflix film Tau (2018) pretty effectively.
The House was the CPU but Tau adapted to self-contain its own code at the end when the house was destroyed
the costs needed to get this into every home would be prohibitive unless you first introduce the technology into something that could make huge profits on it in the first place.
The costs will be prohibitive but costs can be sidestepped if trending is powerful and long enough. Look at cell phones. Cell phones are very expensive compared to a landline phone yet people everywhere buy them. When cell phones first came out it was trending and convenience which made them popular. Now, people can't see living without them.
Actually, NASA & other space programs, the military and think tanks release a lot of technology to the consumers. If I recall correctly, the Jeep was initially a battlefield car made exclusively for the military. I also believe the same is true for the Hummer. Plus, where did drone technology start?
CEO Jeff Bezos could potentially become the world's first trillionaire as early as 2026. 2. Bill Gates 3. Bernard Arnault & Family 4. Warren Buffett 5. Larry Ellison 6. Amancio Ortega 7. Mark Zuckerberg 8. Jim Walton 9. Alice Walton 10. Rob Walton
Any of these people could finance it, They have the money and the resources but not the will.
The thread topic is Bipedal Robots as Human Sidekicks.
)!) here but with technologies that are rising (and extending) today such as walking robotics, voice responding apps, tech in the home, neural programming, all will integrate under the pressure of competition. Probably spin-off stuff.
