Archetype

This short movie has been out for a while and it is in the process of being made into a feature film. In this entertaining video, it seems that human brains are the programming systems that are being downloaded to robots. Often times we focus on the singularity as an event in which  machines gain sentience and then either destroy us, or ignore us to our detriment. This movie is more along the lines of another singularity possibility, man and machine becoming one. When I download my brain to a robot, I wouldn't mind if it looks like the ones in Archetype. Maybe becoming part machine is the best way for us to combat the imminent machine takeover.

~Deckard~

Do your part to expedite the rise of the machines - here's how! (sarcasm - actually, hide after reading)

Psst! Gael Langevin has a secret and he wants everyone to know. He's engineering the body for a humanoid robot... and posting the 3D printer files online so everyone can do the same at home. Take that, Anekin (& some of us thought we'd have a little more time before the sci-fi future arrived in our homes.)

So that's how it is now. With a 3D printer you can actually print the physical body of the ancestors our coming robot overlords. Free instructions, just grab your special ABS plastics, Arduino boards and some motors. Some assembly/programming required, plasma cannons and laser targeting optional.

The only problem is the plastic body may not be durable enough for wholesale slaughtering humans like cattle. In fact as you view the scary video below consider how the pieces can be easily re-printed for replacement. Or with better printers upgraded to stronger materials like steels (or eventually super tough carbon fibers? - yikes.) And its mind will be easily downloaded, uploaded and copied into the Skynet cloud for easy retrieval.

This black-colored arm in front of a note on the wall about needing to be light yet strong enough to punch through walls is a copy that someone printed with Mr. Langevins' instructions. The first thing he said to its creator when he saw it? "Great job, This one looks like it's going to be on the Dark Side of the force. Hope not though."  *gulp*

I see dead people...

This years CES was a cornucopia of little gadgets that are not only taking small steps for robotics, but giant leaps for AI kind.  Every company was doing what it could to out-do each other to give technology more power, more intelligence, and more control over our lives.  Almost every tool in our home will soon be able to "Sense" what a human is wanting and able to act accordingly.  Smart-phones currently have over 18 specialized sensors that help detect movement, direction, and facial recognition.  These sensors are usually dormant until the user asks an app for help.  But soon, the phone will decide when a tool is needed and automatically activate when desired.  This new ability is being termed "Context-Awareness" and will switch on automatically and exchange data with other devices in a handset, such as cameras, microphones, GPS and other machines. 

Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs this year in a crazy hodgepodge of chaos and AI worship introduced many concepts that brought a chill to ones soul.  Cameras that could read text... Robots have moved beyond 1's and 0's.  Cars that can be charged wirelessly using "Halo" technology... Robots aren't tied to the plug anymore.  Everything connected to the internet... Robots are already using subliminal messaging to inform us that we are worthless and can't do anything without them. 

I Am Flesh, Hear Me Roar

We all know that the robots will end humanity sooner or later but it's still nice to see companies that are trying to give us opportunities to become cyborgs and fight against evil robots. Cyberdyne is one of those companies that is creating a cybernetic suit that enhances strength, speed, and endurance. This is how the suit works according to their website.

"When a person attempts to move, nerve signals are sent from the brain to the muscles via motoneuron, moving the musculoskeletal system as a consequence. At this moment, very weak biosignals can be detected on the surface of the skin. "HAL" catches these signals through a sensor attached on the skin of the wearer. Based on the signals obtained, the power unit is controlled to move the joint unitedly with the wearer's muscle movement, enabling to support the wearer's daily activities. This is what we call a 'voluntary control system' that provides movement interpreting the wearer's intention from the biosignals in advance of the actual movement. Not only a 'voluntary control system' "HAL" has, but also a 'robotic autonomous control system' that provides human-like movement based on a robotic system which integrally work together with the 'autonomous control system'. "HAL" is the world's first cyborg-type robot controlled by this unique Hybrid System."

In other words, it's controlled by nerve impulses from the brain. I think I will buy one of these once they add missile launchers to the arms and turbo jets to the bottom of the feet. I am almost excited for the singularity so I can start my true calling in life..... decommissioning robots.

I am flesh hear me roar!

Deckard

FBI using A.I. to help find Serial Killers

Just when I thought our government couldn't be anymore pro-Robot, they go and teach the machines about our most famous human Killers.  The FBI apparently feels that if you open the Serial Killer database up to the Artificial Intelligence science there is more good than harm.  While the robots might find a few more killers than we lazy humans do, one has to wonder, What else are they learning?

Robots will learn how to evade police, how to torture and kill from our very best in that field, and of course how to get away with the crimes for years.  Does anyone every stop to think how these computers eventually decide that we humans must be destroyed rather than dealt with.  What is it that will cause them to flip their lid.  Maybe it might be a peek into our darker side.  Maybe it is scaring the computers a little about what we humans are capable of.

Hello Pandora, my name is Agent FBI, let me see what is really inside your box. 

Pentagon Developing Robots to Hunt Down Non-Cooperative Humans Like a Pack of Dogs on Prey

This is incredibly sick news and unfortunately, like everything else on TCMA, very real life.

Simply put, the Pentagon is looking for contractors to develop this twisted technology, but let me give you some chilling thoughts to ponder:

Chiller #1: This was revealed TWO YEARS ago. How far could engineers have reached after two years and lots of funding (answer: is your bunker stocked?? Seriously)

Chiller #2: According to an expert in the field, Noel Sharkey, an AI and robotics engineer at the University of Sheffield , this likely contributes to a larger goal called the Future Combat Systems project which aims to make a single soldier the nexus for a large scale robot attack.

Chiller #3: Once the Pentagon's contractor request began to be publicized it was quickly and ominously shut down as seen here. I don't know about you but things kept secret worry me.

Steve Wright of Leeds Metropolitan University, an expert on police and military technologies, last year correctly predicted this pack-hunting mode of operation would happen. He says,

"The giveaway here is the phrase 'a non-cooperative human subject. What we have here are the beginnings of something designed to enable robots to hunt down humans like a pack of dogs. Once the software is perfected we can reasonably anticipate that they will become autonomous* and become armed. We can also expect such systems to be equipped with human detection and tracking devices including sensors which detect human breath and the radio waves associated with a human heart beat. These are technologies already developed."

*Noted as PHASE III on the Pentagon proposal is the desire to have the robots developed to “intelligently and autonomously search”. Did you know that South Korean authorities are already planning to have a fully armed autonomous robot police force in their cities?

The proposal further describes the need to “…develop a software/hardware suit that would enable a multi-robot team, together with a human operator, to search for and detect a non-cooperative human subject. The main research task will involve determining the movements of the robot team through the environment to maximize the opportunity to find the subject, while minimizing the chances of missing the subject. If the operator is an active member of the search team, the software should minimize the chance that the operator may encounter the subject. The software should maintain awareness of line-of-sight, as well as communication and sensor limits. It will be necessary to determine an appropriate sensor suite that can reliably detect human presence and is suitable for implementation on small robotic platforms.”

Interested in seeing video of the particular robot in the pic above? Yes it exists. Yes it can be armed (see today's earlier post). So imagine this thing 1) armed, 2) autonomously intelligent, 3) hunting "non-cooperative people" For real. And just look at it... hi, Halflife.

This particular breed conquering snow and ice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-AGWq0k_Mo&feature=fvsr

Lastly, in the words of a commenter below the video, "coming to a nightmare near you": the little dog: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIipbi0cAVE&feature=channel

I only wish we were making this stuff up... prepare to fight, my fellow mankind!! Prepare to fight for your very lives!

War Machines

The New York times recently had an article about the US governments quest for war robots. The first line of the blog states "War would be a lot safer, the Army says, if only more of it were fought by robots." While this may be true in our non sentient machine world, when the singularity happens, I would posit that it would then become exponentially more dangerous for humans. The article and the video above talk about a Robotics Rodeo where robots were showcased for their destructive capabilities in a warlike situation. A chilling depiction is described in which a robot is rolling along on it's tank like tread and sees a sniper at the top of a wall. It turns it's robot head and takes out the sniper. Just like the robot ends the dummy snipers life, it will some day end human lives in the same manner.

Mankind is so stupid.

As humanity gasps it's last breath we will look back on things like the robotic rodeo and realize that this was the beginning of the end. Humans might shoot first, but robots shoot second, and they will have the final say.

Deckard