Saturday, July 22, 2017

Robot suicide

Is robot suicide a thing? In other words can a robot kill itself? Doesn't killing oneself require one to be alive first? Also, software crashes which have been happening since mankind started programing software were never called suicides. The robot in the story I read on CNN was an autonomous K5 security robot. Moving around autonomously based on various sensors requires well developed coding but I would not consider that coding at the level of Artificial Intelligence that some predict will doom mankind. (this prediction of AI ending human mankind might be covered in another post - interested?)


Steve was not designed to swim


It appears "Steve" the security robot was new on the job and still learning it's area. I guess it had not yet included those steps leading down into the fountain in its internal mapping. Some have pointed out that steps/stairs maybe our best defense against the future robot uprising. 

I wouldn't put my hopes on that. Robots come in all types so one skilled at climbing stairs or even walls might already be in the lab. A small drone can just fly up stairs. I'm thinking the control of battery supplies and recharging might be their weak spot.

Knightscope is the company that produced Steve, K5 security robot. On their FAQ page they state:

Knightscope was originally founded in response to the tragic events at Sandy Hook and the Boston Marathon. The founders believed that with a unique combination of hardware and software, they could greatly reduce crime… by as much as 50%!
Reduced crime is a good thing. Security robots on every city street - hmm, not the world I want to live in. It would be interesting to see what one of their security robots could do in Chicago's high crime areas.

After reading more about their robots, I would summarize their idea as enhanced surveillance on wheels. Since the 9/11 attack, we have gotten use to extra security at many locations. These robots at airports might be a smart addition especially watching the outside parameters.

So K5 Steve took a dive, twitter jumped on it and now we know more about these robots. 


Here's a business interview of the CEO I found.


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