Chapter 302: Not Panic at All
Chapter 302: Not Panic at All
Until 2013, when Boston Dynamics itself was unable to collapse, the second global robot wave saved it. With their crazy screen swiping, Google finally took a fancy to them and eventually spent 3 billion to buy them and extend their life.
But within a few years, Google couldn’t stand Boston’s “ideal sentiment” and sold them to SoftBank of the island country at the original price.
Boston Dynamics’ technological ideal sentiment is reflected in the fact that they want to take the universal route, that is, a robot can be like a human and can be competent for various jobs.
But this is actually not in line with business laws.
At least with the current technology, it is far from being achieved. If they continue to insist, they will have to endure more than ten years, or even decades, before they can produce an iterative product.
And this iteration is not necessarily their credit, it’s just that the technology tree is lit up, and they can build it accordingly. What they can do, others can do as well. When the time comes, just invest in another company. Why should we support a bunch of idiots? So after being taken over by SoftBank, Boston Dynamics may be under pressure from shareholders, or it may really realize their idealism, and also tried to go the specialization route, such as the Handle robot for logistics sorting, but found that this thing can’t do those specialized robots that don’t look like humans.
They just put a mechanical arm there, which is not only efficient but also low-cost.
To put it bluntly, Boston Dynamics wants to develop morality, intelligence, physical fitness, aesthetics and labor in an all-round way, but because it can’t be as open-minded as Kang Chi’s Bai Niu, it can only produce a “comprehensively undeveloped” four-in-one. As a result, except for twisting its waist in the video, it has no great practical value.
In the end, SoftBank couldn’t stand it anymore, and sold Boston Dynamics to Hyundai Motor of South Korea for $1 billion.
But unexpectedly, at this press conference, Boston Dynamics seemed to suddenly come to its senses.
They actually built a ‘bionic spider’ that looks similar to Kang Chi’s dreadnought! And this multi-legged bionic machine is obviously built for war. Only the all-terrain needs of the battlefield are more suitable for this multi-legged mobile platform.
In the field of life and production, robots with two legs, tracks, two wheels, and one wheel are more suitable.
However, this multi-legged platform in Boston only made Kang Chi pay a little more attention. He did not think it would pose any threat to himself.
At the end of the press conference, the bosses of several technology giants gathered on the stage and pressed a digital crystal ball together, announcing the official establishment of the Athena AI Joint Laboratory, and then depicted their grand blueprint through a promotional video.
Housekeeping robots, nanny robots, industrial robots, express delivery robots, war robots…
Even companion robots.
Although this thing was only briefly demonstrated through an intimate action, it is not hard to guess that it can definitely roll in the sheets.
After all, there are such simulation toys now, but they just can’t move by themselves.
If the housekeeping nanny type robot is out, there is really not much technical difficulty in theory.
I just don’t know if the weight can be controlled well. If it weighs hundreds of kilograms, I don’t know if the bed board can bear it, but the human kidney will definitely be broken if you sit on it…
In this dazzling promotional video, they showed more than a dozen different robot models, pushing the atmosphere of the press conference to the peak.
It can only be said that the technology companies of Lao M are very good at storytelling,
and they will indeed take practical actions for this,
but the actual progress…
can’t make Kang Chi feel any sense of urgency.
“I’ve finished watching the video.” After turning off the video, Kang Chi called Cai Yaobin directly, “Any questions?”
”Uh… Did you feel anything after watching it?” Cai Yaobin asked with some doubt, “For example, the way the bipedal robot walks on the stage is just like a living life.”
Kang Chi immediately laughed and said, “It’s not that I underestimate the enemy, but it’s definitely not that simple to create a digital life.”
”What this Wall-E can do, can’t Bai Niu in my laboratory do the same? She can even do much more than it.” ”And Bai Niu is just an intermediate intelligence, and is still far from a truly advanced strong artificial intelligence with its own consciousness. Besides, no matter how you look at it, I think this Wall-E robot seems to be controlled by someone.”
”Well… maybe walking and finding the way can be done by itself, but those cute movements of shaking the head are definitely to assist the storytelling, and are specially designed programs or remote control. I guess this joint press conference is mainly a counterattack against the Xuanyuan system joint press conference, and also to stabilize their company’s stock price. ”
”Unless Lao Huang can finally twist his head off and hold his head to continue the press conference, I will definitely be fidgeting immediately. ”
After listening to Kang Chi’s analysis, Cai Yaobin couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
In fact, before consulting Kang Chi, he also consulted the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Yanda Artificial Intelligence Research Institute, and their analysis results were basically the same as Kang Chi’s.
But slightly different from Kang Chi, they all agreed that this was just their “limited display”.
If they continue to lead in research and development, in the near future, their grand blueprint is likely to be realized first, thus creating a new technology field and market that can completely replace semiconductors.
Cai Yaobin immediately heard this rhetoric.
Obviously, he wanted to take this opportunity to ask for money and resources from the higher-ups…
No matter which country, taking advantage of the situation to ask for resources That’s all basic operations of scientific research institutions.
However, their and Cai Yaobin’s alarmist remarks are actually useless.
He is only responsible for the specific equipment procurement, not the approval and funding allocation of scientific research projects.
And the military’s future major R&D investment, if nothing unexpected happens, will be on Kang Chi’s side. If they want money, they can only ask the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology…
The two briefly talked about the multi-legged spider of Boston Dynamics, mainly because it looks like a new type of war robot.
But Kang Chi’s confident attitude made Cai Yaobin feel a lot more at ease.
”In fact, I have always been curious why you insist on the route of remote wireless remote control equipment instead of intelligent fully automatic war weapons?”
”Because I don’t feel comfortable handing over weapons to others.” Kang Chi answered directly, “AI is simply a program. As long as it is a program, there may be bugs. What if it goes crazy and can’t distinguish between friend and foe, or is implanted with a virus? What’s more, it is an independent individual, and its controllability and practicality after being released are all problems. “Although I advocate unmanned equipment, this is only to improve the combat effectiveness of the equipment and reduce our own losses. It does not mean that I support handing over weapons to something that we may not even understand.” Cai Yaobin nodded. He was actually curious about why Kang Chi, who was always very “black technology”, seemed a little “conservative” in this matter. But after listening to Kang Chi’s words, he was no longer confused. “By the way, we have preliminarily screened the pilots and marines who need to cooperate with you to test the equipment. Do you want to meet them in advance or let them report directly to the Pingfengshan base?” Kang Chi thought for a while before answering: “Marine soldiers can be asked to come directly, but for pilots, I still want to go and see them in person.” Cai Yaobin guessed what Kang Chi was worried about when he heard it. He immediately said in a serious tone: “Obeying orders is the duty of a soldier. In fact, you don’t have to consider their thoughts too much. ”
”A forced melon is not sweet.” Kang Chi shook his head, “I don’t want anyone to participate in my experiment with emotions.”
(End of this chapter)