
MIT AGI: Boston Dynamics [video] - AlanTuring
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiNSPRKHyvo
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iandanforth
The best thing about Boston Dynamics is that their robots don't work. Maybe
spot-mini will but their track record is terrible and I'm thankful for it. I
get the distinct impression that these self described 'badboys' would happily
hand over a fully functional android to the military complete with gun mounts.
There are a _lot_ of great robotics companies to work for that are also deeply
principled about doing good, this is not one of them.

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jlebrech
what's evil about the military?

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GenericsMotors
There's definitely something evil (extremely unethical?) about handing the
decision/burden to take someone's life to machines.

Also, I don't think your remark is a fair representation of the parent
comment.

~~~
iandanforth
No no, they're right, the US military is evil. Your statement is also true
though.

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suyash
Thanks for sharing this wonderful lecture. I would like to know why this guy's
mission is to have Robotic Intelligence >= Human Intelligence. What is his
reason behind that, he did not divulge. Any guesses?

~~~
dwc
Pretty much every conception of AGI is of greater than human intelligence, at
least in some aspects.

The reason? Otherwise why build it? Yes, there are cases where AGI as
subhuman-level intelligence would have utility, but the remaining cases are
far more numerous and have far more utility.

~~~
goatlover
> but the remaining cases are far more numerous and have far more utility

But why do we want to replace ourselves? Do we just want the machines to do
everything for us? Take care of us like we're pets?

~~~
Daemon_Eater
Different people have different priorities, some subset of people must desire
to be taken care of like pets. That said, the relationship does not have to
have a master/pet dynamic to it. There are alternatives where ASI takes
specific roles away from humanity (like various governmental, administrative,
or legal roles), especially those roles where humans consistently fall short
and failure has very negative consequences. The driving motivations for ASIs
will determine what kind of relationship we have with them. They may all have
the potential to lead to mass subjugation but, that isn't set in stone, we
could end up as partners in a shared future.

I for one hope they can fortify my deep solipsism with more detail, my own
personal paradise Matrix. Or maybe they can just take care of me while I waste
away on drugs, ensuring no negative externalities.

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lopmotr
It's excellent that they've got large scale practical commercial applications
in mind, rather than the niche search and rescue which every university robot
researcher seems to talk about as their imagined application.

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emilga
Very cool lecture!

It would be interesting to hear him speak about the pros and cons of different
body plans. Are three or six legged robots useful, compared to four legged
ones? What about multi-armed humanoid robots?

~~~
zaroth
Someone asked that question and he kinda punted on the answer. He said
humanoid robots are theoretically useful for operating in spaces designed for
humans, and also get orders of magnitude better responses from the public, but
spreading out the motors and balancing tech in a quadruped gives much more
space to work in.

See: T=46min

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mooneater
Interesting:

\- mentions military application without further comment, then dwells on elder
care

\- 21:05 robotics platform like "the android of robotics"

\- 38:50 struggling with safety

\- 48:00 "Im sure we will use learning before too long" Im surprised they
arent using a lot of machine learning here.

~~~
dirtshell
For the vast majority of robotics and controls traditional methods often have
the best (implementation + research)/time value. Using any kind of machine
learning usually means a lot of research and implementation time for widely
varying results. Maybe if you had some ML specialists that could accelerate
implementation and direct you on the right path, ML approaches could become
more popular.

The simplest and most practical use of ML is in CV. I'd be surprised if they
weren't doing some of that.

~~~
Iv
They aren't. You see QR code everywhere. I feel they are at the point I was
before going into deep learning: they recognized the buzz pattern of an
overhyped tech and won't believe it provides immediate gain until they try.

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rojobuffalo
When you specify that the robot should open the door, and then a human
interferes, how do you ensure the robot doesn't yank the door abruptly to
knock the human back or swing its arm into the human to clear that space?

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fladrif
Asimov's three rules of robotics? Are those being implemented?

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zaroth
Marc actually discusses how safety is extremely challenging, e.g. people
assume you can just have the robot freeze, but often freezing can cause more
harm.

So for now they actually do not let the robots operate in physical contact
with humans. The closest they’ve come to testing the robots is working with a
human to lift a stretcher.

See: T=37:50

~~~
derefr
> people assume you can just have the robot freeze, but often freezing can
> cause more harm.

Is this true of humans as well, or is it something unique to robots with their
hard shells and hydraulics?

In other words, would freezing be a safe fallback strategy for a soft robot?

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namelost
It's true of everything. If you freeze when you are not in equilibrium, you
will... fall over. Maintaining equilibrium is an active process.

~~~
tintor
That is why you build robots with size and strength of a child first, to limit
amount of damage it can do, and to allow human adult to overpower it if
necessary.

~~~
sgc
Unfortunately that is not financially rewarding enough and will be skipped for
higher risk applications. But I think you are spot on.

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soheil
> Unfortunately, the above is the best available resolution of slides. Thanks
> for understanding. We're always learning and improving.

Hmm something doesn't sit right with me on this one. It's not just slides,
it's videos too. It seems like they're apologizing for a mistake they might
have made as opposed to intentionally downscaled the videos. Is it just a
coincidence that the first time some of these videos are shown (not all) they
happen to be extremely low res?

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mark_l_watson
I recommend the entire MIT course on AGI
[http://AGI.mit.edu](http://AGI.mit.edu)

Great guest lecturers.

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xchip
Nice tiled floor, I guess that helps a bit with SLAM (just being jealous,
great job!! :) )

