Pentagon Funded Experiment Develops Robots That Change By 'Consuming' Other Robots (404media.co) 25
alternative_right writes: A team of researchers at Columbia University, funded in part by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, have developed "machines that can grow by consuming other machines." Video of the experiment shows tubular robots that move by extending their shafts to inch along the ground. As the tubes gather, they connect and form into more complex shapes like triangles and tetrahedrons. With each piece consumed, the whole moves faster and with more elegance.
"AI systems need bodies to move beyond current limitations. Physical embodiment brings the AI into the messy, constraint-rich real world -- and that's where true generalization has to happen," Phillipe Martin Wyder, lead researcher on the project, told 404 Media.
"AI systems need bodies to move beyond current limitations. Physical embodiment brings the AI into the messy, constraint-rich real world -- and that's where true generalization has to happen," Phillipe Martin Wyder, lead researcher on the project, told 404 Media.
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You only need just over 2,300 people [wearethemighty.com] to get enough iron from their blood to make a sword.
If you want to go for steel you'd need just over 16,000 people.
Re:Dumb, (Score:5, Informative)
The robot can only expand if a human puts the exact part that it needs directly in its path, and that part is designed to click into place.
This robot is not Skynet. Sarah Conner is safe.
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Exactly. This is not a robot that can "grow" by "consuming" other machines. That would be a giant killer mecha that can disassemble an enemy tank and somehow process it into an extra layer of armour for itself. What this is, is a demonstration of assembly of a robot from spare parts, or a demo of small robots attaching themselves to other small robots in a kind of cool way. Not sure if this is sensationalist reporting, or the research team getting the military to fund their experiments by fooling them into
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So, it's not like Katamari Damacy? :D
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Indeed. The whole "embodiment" thing is nonsense speculation that for some reason idiots think is some sort of immutable law.
Big Hero 6 (Score:2)
It's only a movie.
it's only a movie.
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It's only a movie.
I'm worried about the future movie which will include a caption stating "inspired by real events"
I only had a general biology class in college ... (Score:2)
What could go wrong?
They only asked if they could (Score:2)
Besides, if they didn't some other random fool would do the same now that the technology allows it, so may as well be some PhD students who will go on to do something wholly unrelated to their field of study three years from now.
Busta Rhymes' (Score:2)
alarmist click bait title (Score:4, Informative)
These robots don't "consume" anything. They can attach to each other with what looks like magnets. That is all.
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LOL (Score:2)
I was expecting something fascinating. Instead I see a video of shafts with magnets on the end bumbling around. How did this crap get funded? I was doing more interesting things with my Erector set when I was 10 years old back in the 70's.
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I know that you're upset that your parents made you live in the basement; however that's no reason to project your insecurities onto others. It's your fault that your Lincoln Logs smell that way, not mine.
Thor (Score:2)
I saw that Star Trek Episode: The Changeling (Score:2)
Sorta this. The resulting robot's mission was to eliminate all non-perfect lifeforms.
This is a good thing. (Score:2)
People have been worrying about AI for a while now. Now, at least when the AI goes haywire and starts taking things over, we'll have a little blue one who can save the day.
Eat the robots! (Score:2)
They taste like what AI thinks sushi tastes like!
Link at Columbia University who did the research (Score:2)
404 Media had a sign-in to see the article. Columbia has a Cloudflare AI blocker, but here's their link: https://www.engineering.columb... [columbia.edu]