Year in Review

Technology Review sums up the past year in robot advances.

Medical and military advances abound, of course. But creepily, some are learning to make eye contact and one learned to mimic sneakiness, "hiding in virtual shadows and darting between obstacles to remain undetected ("Modeling Sneaky Robots")."

And some Swiss robots learned to "deceive each other when their resources were limited ("Robots 'Evolve' the Ability to Deceive")."

So keep an eye on the shadows and DON'T TRUST YOUR ROOMBA.

Rock em Sock em Biff Bots

Tom Wilson, better known as Biff Tannen in the Back to the Future films, is a writer, comedian and painter.

He is our new favorite artist, as this painting attests.

Too Horrible to Be Fiction

You must read this. Prepare to be horrified. Yes, it's about a guy who celebrated Christmas with his robot wife.

*Shudder*

Shockingly, he's been forced to MOVE BACK IN WITH HIS PARENTS after spending all his time and money perfecting his fembot.

*sigh*

Thanks @_skynet_ for the tip!

Captain Obvious Writes the News

USA Today finally covers the idea that robots will shape our wars in the future.

We only have one thing to say about this: well, duh.

Image from http://www.rawcityhomelounge.com/blog/

Starting from Scratch

MIT is rethinking their assumptions about artificial intelligence.

"Rather than just create a program that can process a great deal of data very fast, the team wants to develop an artificial consciousness capable of nonlinear, human-style reasoning."

Their goal is to create a machine that can comprehend a children's book.

Let's pray they don't pick something like this.

Is That A Nanobot Crawling Up Your Spine?

Yes. Yes it is.

Fit to Print

It's not just me, people.

The New York Freakin' Times is starting to get worried, too.

This May Be The Last Entry

Because we are now officially doomed.

Now Who's Laughing?

Robots in Japan are getting laid off.

I have just one thing to say to that.

(In my best Nelson Muntz voice.) Ha ha!

Meanwhile, In Liquid Metal Terminator News...

Who needs Skynet when you've got the Pentagon?

Could This Be It?

Is this, finally, how World Robot Domination will officially begin?

Fantastic Voyage

ViRob is a 1 mm diameter robot that can crawl through your veins.

Start plugging your orifices now.

Beware of Squirrels

Squirrel bot climbs pole, looks in your window, goes inside, kills you in your sleep.

MIT creates robot gardeners.


Can domed cities and soylent green be far behind?

What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Via Sentient Developments:

Next up on the Pentagon's drawing board, autonomous robots who can decide when to fire their own weapons.

"We are sleepwalking into a brave new world where robots decide who, where and when to kill," said Noel Sharkey, an expert on robotics and artificial intelligence at the University of Sheffield, England.


Look out, Sarah Connor.

Ant Bot

Coming soon to a picnic near you.

Medic!

This one is designed to extract wounded soldiers from the battlefield.


That's actually pretty cool.

Must Read Interview

PW Singer, author of Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century, speaks on robot uprisings, the idea that Asimov's Laws are bullshit and the scourge of Ewoks.

Robotics Roadshow - Employment Opportunity or Ground Zero for World Robot Domination?

This Robot Roadshow happening in Boston on April 14 reads like a weird ad from a Jetsons future we never had. "Learn to be a robot integrator, reseller, engineer, installer, or -- would you believe --robot personality designer?" But it seems to be for real, so perhaps we need to send some folks in to infiltrate the ranks of our future robot overlords and try to stop the robot rebellion while it's still in its infancy.

Robot Gardeners

Soon they'll be pruning you.

Cute Informational Children's Book or Pro-Robot Propaganda Distributed by Our Future Overlords in Order to Lull Us into a False Sense of Control?

At A Loss For Words

What can we say about a giant fire-breathing baby robot?

Think Unsexy Thoughts! Think Unsexy Thoughts!

World Robot Domination Step One: Human controls robot using only brain power. Status: Complete.

Step Two: Robot reverses the polarity of the neutron flow, turning the unsuspecting human into a puppetized killing machine. Status: ???

In Which We Break Our Long Silence

In order to point you toward the Roomba FAQ.

The Last Link

You know what? Just go here for all your evil robot news. They're thorough and probably actually get paid to keep track of world robot domination. I just don't have the energy to pay attention anymore.

You Have 30 Seconds to Comply!

Check out this post over at Sentient Developments.

He reviews a book called Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century
by P W Singer.

From the blog: It's no secret that the U.S. military is developing a variety of unmanned weapons and seemingly futuristic technologies -- everything from automated machine guns and robotic ­stretcher ­bearers to tiny but lethal robots the size of insects.

As these weapons gain more and more autonomy, deeper questions arise. Singer poses difficult questions: "Can the new armaments reliably separate friend from foe? What laws and ethical codes apply? What are we saying when we send out unmanned ma­chines to fight for us? What is the “message” that those on the other side receive?" And ultimately, asks Singer, how will we remain masters of weapons that are immeasurably faster and more "intelligent" than we are?

Gee, you think that could be a problem?

First They Came For The Rolling Stones, And I Said Nothing...

Robot band to perform at rock festival.

Insert gratuitous "Freebird" joke here.