Week 3: Robotics + Art

http://time.com/5183713/amazon-alexa-down-outage/

As we continue to advance technologically, robots are slowly creeping into our daily lives. One specific example which has been gaining popularity over the last year are smart speakers like the Amazon Alexa or Google Home. These speakers are voice controlled robots which you can talk to, give commands to, ask questions, or play games with. They’re basically like electronic personal assistants. And while they are popular, I think a lot of people take for granted the fact that they have an early form of artificial intelligence in their home as a companion.

While in-home technological advances, like smart speakers, are useful and fascinating, further robot development by companies like Boston Dynamics give us a glimpse into what our future with robots may look like. Boston Dynamics has released numerous videos over the last few years showing off their creations, mainly their four-legged and two-legged androids which look like dogs and humans respectively. Watching these machines move and complete tasks is eerie because they look alive, a trait which previously hasn’t been captured in robotics very often. As our technology continues to advance, it is not too far-fetched to think the tech like that from smart speakers and Boston Dynamics could combine to create humanoid robotic assistants or other sci-fi type creations.

This rapid progress may be startling or scary to some, but our society has been getting ready for it for years. It can be clearly seen in our cultural fascination with science fiction, such as in the movies I, Robot, Transformers, or Ready Player One. It seems as though people can’t wait to get their hands on future technology, and with our rate of advancement, they may not have to wait for very long.

References

Benjamin, Walter. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. Prism Key Press, 2010.

BostonDynamics. YouTube, YouTube, 12 Feb. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUyU3lKzoio.

“Boston Dynamics.” Boston Dynamics Is Changing Your Idea of What Robots Can Do. | Boston Dynamics, www.bostondynamics.com/.

Brooks, Rodney. “Robots Will Invade Our Lives.” TED2003. TED2003.

“Echo & Alexa Devices.” Robot Check, www.amazon.com/Amazon-Echo-And-Alexa-Devices/b?ie=UTF8&node=9818047011.