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June 23, 2006
Sex with Robots
Homer Simpson once said that you’ve got to be pretty desperate to do it with a robot.
Well, desperate people rejoice because that possibility may not be far away:
"People are going to be having sex with robots within five years," says Henrik Christensen of the European Robotics Research Network (Euron).
Christensen apparently worries that robots might be built too sexy: “So should limits be set on the appearance, for example, of such robotic sex toys?”
Might all this prompt hookers to join the War Against the Machines to stop those buckets of bolts from taking human jobs?
And it’s not just the ladies (and fellas) of the night who should worry. All sorts of jobs are at risk:
- The National Health Service has used a robot called da Vinci to perform surgery at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in London.
…
More advanced versions are expected to be doing everyday domestic tasks and helping to care for the elderly in as little as 20 years.
A bunch of scientists and academics have gathered together to figure out how to ensure that we humans stay in control of things:
- THE race is on to keep humans one step ahead of robots: an international team of scientists and academics is to publish a "code of ethics" for machines as they become more and more sophisticated.
Although the nightmare vision of a Terminator world controlled by machines may seem fanciful, scientists believe the boundaries for human-robot interaction must be set now, before super-intelligent robots develop beyond our control.
"There are two levels of priority," says Gianmarco Verruggio, a roboticist at the Institute of Intelligent Systems for Automation in Genoa, northern Italy, and chief architect of the guide, to be published next month.
"We have to manage the ethics of the scientists making the robots and the artificial ethics inside the robots."
Article here.
More on the robot threat here and here.
(One day a robot may even boot Lou Dobbs from his anchor chair.)
Posted by tedb at June 23, 2006 11:48 AM
Basically nothing noteworthy happening right now, but eh. Today was a complete loss. I haven't been up to much recently. I've pretty much been doing nothing worth mentioning.
Comment by: Sten27164 at January 26, 2007 07:55 AM
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I haven't gotten anything done today. I feel like a fog, but what can I say? I've just been letting everything wash over me lately, not that it matters. Shrug.
Comment by: Sten2446 at January 26, 2007 10:41 PM
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My mind is like a bunch of nothing, but I guess it doesn't bother me. I haven't been up to anything recently. I've pretty much been doing nothing to speak of.
Comment by: Sten2796 at January 27, 2007 04:38 AM
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I haven't been up to anything today. I don't care. I've just been staying at home not getting anything done. Basically not much happening right now. Maybe tomorrow. I guess it doesn't bother me.
Comment by: Sten28887 at January 29, 2007 05:14 AM
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My life's been pretty dull recently. Shrug. My mind is like a void. I haven't gotten anything done lately. I can't be bothered with anything recently.
Comment by: Sten97835 at January 29, 2007 05:52 AM
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I've more or less been doing nothing worth mentioning, but eh. My life's been really bland today. I don't care. I've just been letting everything happen without me these days. That's how it is.
Comment by: Sten6128 at January 29, 2007 04:15 PM
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I feel like a complete blank, but I don't care. Pfft. I've pretty much been doing nothing worth mentioning.
Comment by: Sten78402 at January 29, 2007 06:51 PM
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I can't be bothered with anything these days, but such is life. I don't care. So it goes. More or less nothing seems worth thinking about. I've just been hanging out waiting for something to happen, but that's how it is.
Comment by: Sten25018 at January 30, 2007 09:46 PM
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I feel like an empty room, but eh. Nothing seems worth doing. I haven't gotten much done today.
Comment by: Sten84369 at February 1, 2007 12:26 AM
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I haven't been up to anything these days. So it goes. I can't be bothered with anything these days.
Comment by: Sten41419 at February 1, 2007 10:24 AM
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I just don't have much to say these days, but so it goes. Today was a total loss. I guess it doesn't bother me.
Comment by: Sten65147 at February 1, 2007 04:06 PM
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I haven't been up to anything these days. So it goes. I can't be bothered with anything these days.
Comment by: Sten85766 at February 1, 2007 05:20 PM
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Comment by: Sten6056 at February 1, 2007 10:35 PM
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I just don't have anything to say , but shrug. So it goes. Not much on my mind recently. I can't be bothered with anything recently.
Comment by: Sten78974 at February 3, 2007 12:33 AM
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I've more or less been doing nothing worth mentioning, but eh. My life's been really bland today. I don't care. I've just been letting everything happen without me these days. That's how it is.
Comment by: Sten74839 at February 3, 2007 11:21 AM
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I just don't have anything to say right now. I haven't been up to anything recently, but it's not important. I've just been sitting around waiting for something to happen, but shrug.
Comment by: Sten72669 at February 3, 2007 09:38 PM
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I've more or less been doing nothing worth mentioning, but eh. My life's been really bland today. I don't care. I've just been letting everything happen without me these days. That's how it is.
Comment by: Sten99158 at February 4, 2007 03:29 AM
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I've just been staying at home not getting anything done. I've basically been doing nothing worth mentioning. My life's been pretty unremarkable these days. Eh.
Comment by: Sten95917 at February 4, 2007 08:40 PM
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I just don't have much to say recently. Such is life. I've basically been doing nothing. Basically nothing seems worth bothering with. Oh well.
Comment by: Sten15568 at February 4, 2007 11:16 PM
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I haven't been up to anything these days. So it goes. I can't be bothered with anything these days.
Comment by: Sten61646 at February 5, 2007 12:36 AM
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Not much on my mind these days, but what can I say? It's not important. I just don't have much to say lately. I've just been letting everything pass me by recently, but eh.
Comment by: Sten6857 at February 6, 2007 03:32 AM
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