Drone fails compilation.... Beware of monkeys with sticks

[Spinnor]

We need to get humans out of the loop.



Amazing how rugged they are after long falls.

 

[jedishrfu]

Here's a Drone success story:

http://www.newsweek.com/watch-drone...swimmers-historic-use-technology-beach-784587

 

[Spinnor]

Here's a Drone success story:

http://www.newsweek.com/watch-drone...swimmers-historic-use-technology-beach-784587

I saw that! Next they should tether the flotation device with monofilament fishing line so the victims can be hauled back in, either with a high powered drone or someone on shore? What do they do for someone who has gone under?

 

[jedishrfu]

I was thinking the same thing. In this case though the swimmers were quite far out. Maybe a drone boat or surfboard followup would work.

One problem with the filament is the potential to get tangled up in the wire.

 

[Spinnor]

I hope to live to the day robots replace lifeguards.

 

[berkeman]

I hope to live to the day robots replace lifeguards.

Why, what happens on that day? Don't you plan on living longer than that?

 

[Spinnor]

Why, what happens on that day? Don't you plan on living longer than that?

I guess I figured it would be a while, but then those self-driving cars are coming along at quite a pace.

Plan on living but have a backup plan.

 

[jack action]

We need to get humans out of the loop.

I hope to live to the day robots replace lifeguards.

As a human myself, I kind of get insulted by this type of comment.

I never saw a reliable machine, especially when considering complexity and mass production. On what basis would AI differ?

I don't think AI could be better than humans on the average (say considering 7 billions robots with AI). And if it ever happens, I think we are far from it :

​

I think nature made a good job until now (It just took a few hundreds millions of years) and we have difficulties just imitating it. And we - apparently imperfect machines - could build something that would create Utopia better than we could do ourself directly? An imperfect thing that cannot improve itself, but can make a perfect thing; Paradoxical.

That being said, I'm not saying that we shouldn't explore this avenue; Just dialing down the expectations and having more self esteem as a species.

 

[Spinnor]

As a human myself, I kind of get insulted by this type of comment.

You might be reading too much into my comment? Hey I like humans, my best friend is a human.

I would guess that most of the crashes in the video above are from human error. Humans are about as good as they will get bar genetic engineering or selective breeding( if you just keep breeding the smartest people will you keep getting smarter people? I know smart people who can act stupid at times). AI will just get better.

 

[berkeman]

I would guess that most of the crashes in the video above are from human error.

I only watched the beginning of the video (people look at me funny if I'm laughing hysterically at my desk/cubicle), but apart from the monkey issue, it looked like a lot of the problems were the drone running low on battery power and making a pre-programmed soft landing to save itself. That's problematic when that happens over water, it would seem...

 

[jack action]

AI will just get better.

On what basis can you state this? I know it is the idea but, as far as I know, proof of concept is still missing. Based on some examples in the video of my previous post, it seems that AI is as limited as humans are (smart programs creating stupid programs).

 

[Spinnor]

On what basis can you state this?

Hard to explain, just seems obvious to me. Things that humans make just get better over time. Rocks, clubs and pointed sticks were probably our first weapons, now we have 3000 pound cruise missiles that can destroy a city with 10s of meter precision, though you don't need such precision destroying a city. A lot of our technology is driven by our military. There is just piles of cash thrown at development. We now have good odds of shooting down hyper-velocity nuclear warheads. If we can survive our expertise at destruction AI will get scarry good in my opinion, I think it can only improve.

 

[Spinnor]

That's problematic when that happens over water, it would seem...

The one drone keep filming underwater! An engineering marvel in its infancy.

 

[BillTre]

I have used some sophisticated drones in a video production course I took.
Human error is the biggest problem, IMHO.

On what basis can you state this?

As more sophisticated drones are made, more problems are engineered away.

a lot of the problems were the drone running low on battery power and making a pre-programmed soft landing to save itself.

As small commercially available drones are getting more sophisticated and more expensive, they are replacing human decisions and overcoming more of the the problems for their fails.
Here are some drone features I know about along these lines:
1) Some drones will land themselves at the place they took off from (landing is often difficult for human operators)
2) Some drones can notice when they are running out of battery power and then do #1 to avoid crashing (avoid landing suddenly where they should not)
3) Some drones have additional anti-collision cameras which will autonomously alter their course if they are going to run into something(into trees, etc.)
4) Some drones can survive water landing and then take off: (there is a video at this link of a drone that can take off after being thrown into the water)

In addition, some drones now have GPS and can hold completely still (great for photography) or take GPS defined courses (and avoid hitting things via #3 when taking that route).
Some drones can send data back to a computer and make digital topo maps of the terrain (or compare air views of building under construction with digital blueprints) they see with their cameras (these are professional uses, rather than amateur).

 

[jack action]

As more sophisticated drones are made, more problems are engineered away.

The complete statement I was referring to was:

Humans are about as good as they will get [...] AI will just get better.

I know there is still room for improvement in robotics and AI. But will it get to a point where it will be autonomous and better than humans on every point? Especially when considering increased complexity and mass production. I never seen such reliability in machines until now (which are much simpler than whatever future robots or AI would be).

 

[BillTre]

IMO, humans will get better engineered also (genetic engineering).
First by eliminating obvious problems like genetic based diseases, then by more futuristic kinds of changes.

However, for particular jobs, like remote controlling of small drones, a task specific designed drone will work better, over the long run, than an easily distracted human.

WRT mass production:
I think, generally speaking, a well designed mass production product (like a car for example) will work better than a one off model that is not mass produced and therefore does not have the economic incentive to invest great amounts into good design.
In the real world, there are no good BatCars or BatPlanes for this reason. Real BatCars are rather pathetic.

 

[Spinnor]

better than humans on every point?

I think AI will keep getting better till, you may laugh, it puts math and physics theorists out of business, surgeons, comedians, poetes, all human professions will be surpassed by AI except maybe the oldest profession. It may be hundreds of years but if humankind can avoid major kill-offs and disruption to our rapid pace of technological development we will get there IMO. This Humans will create.

You are already laughing aren't you?

 

[Spinnor]

However, for particular jobs, like remote controlling of small drones, a task specific designed drone will work better, over the long run, than an easily distracted human.

Travel by airline is very safe but I think the statistic is that 9 out of 10 crashes are human error verses failure with the aircraft. With AI I think there is room for improvement of airline travel.

 

[jack action]

I think AI will keep getting better till, you may laugh, it puts math and physics theorists out of business, surgeons, comedians, poetes, all human professions will be surpassed by AI except maybe the oldest profession. It may be hundreds of years but if humankind can avoid major kill-offs and disruption to our rapid pace of technological development we will get there IMO. This Humans will create.

You are already laughing aren't you?

No, I'm not laughing and I respect your opinion (I may be wrong). I'm just trying to understand this point of view and where it comes from.

From history, nothing is easy as it seems:

Vaccines, herbicides or insecticides were supposed to get rid of a lot of diseases and yet all of those little bugs mutate and can resist our treatments faster that we can create them. The worst thing we can do is to vaccine everybody for everything as we just "teach" the microbes how to fight our "strongest" weapon. Who knew?

Man have been looking for the limits of the physical universe for thousands of years and we still can't identify them. We go further all the time and we aren't still even close of finding one. Not in space, not in time.

When the Internet was in its infancy, the line we were fed was that all books from all libraries of the world could be available to everyone. People in the future would just bathe in the knowledge of the world. Some tried to do this, but I think everybody quit on that idea a long time ago and it is still very difficult to find serious materials on the Web. But if you're looking for porn or a funny picture of grumpy cats, you'll find that it is very easy. Looking for videos about drone fails is a lot easier to find than videos explaining how they work such that you can build your own, maybe an even better version.

Based on so many examples from past experiences, I can say yes, robots that do positive things may exist, but it will definitely means that robots that have negative impacts can also exist (and vice-versa for the people who think robots means the end of the world). I can also say that what a better-than-human AI will most likely come up with ... is more problems to solve. And they will probably be stuck in this recursive situation like we are, just at another level.

Nature is not a problem that needs to be solved. It is, that's it. Everything is balanced and when you change one thing at one end, there is something else changing at the other end. That has never been proven wrong. So, I'm always amazed at people thinking that not only we can «improve» nature, but we must do it. For me, enjoying life is just the fun of learning how it works, that's it. So I don't expect it to be «better»; maybe different but not better.

But I'm not laughing at you. If you are right, then I will live in Utopia and that will mean that I will be happy by definition. If I'm right, I will be happy because ... I'm right! Either way, I win.

all human professions will be surpassed by AI except maybe the oldest profession.

You are probably wrong on that. Sex is what drives a lot of the technologies. If AI and robots go mainstream, it is probably a safe bet to say that the first one will be a sex robot. Life-like, full-size sex dolls already exist, it is just a matter of time before they talk and are animated. I can certainly imagine someone opening a place (a motel?) where you can rent one of these robots by the hour. Cheap - and legal - prostitution ... Yeah! I'm sure there's no money in that!

And I'm sure the physics theorist model will be far more popular than the sex robots. Just like nobody goes on porn sites, too busy roaming around the libraries of all those .edu sites!

 

[Spinnor]

still very difficult to find serious materials on the Web

Many years ago I compared the quality of knowledge on the internet to the local physics library as a comparison to spam to steak. I don't think that way anymore. I have a pretty good library of physics and math books but when I am looking for information, normally not top tier stuff, the internet is the go to place. I am no longer near a good physics library but I don't have a want for information. And look at all the experts here willing to share their time and knowledge with others, just fantastic.

You are probably wrong on that. Sex is what drives a lot of the technologies.

Flesh, blood and imperfections for me, but that is just my personal preference. It is likely to be big business as you suggest.

Yeah! I'm sure there's no money in that!

A robot that listens to your problems and cares. I like that. But you will never replace a dogs loyalty and affection with a robot? They are too damn cheap, they practically give them away at the local pound.

It is a fast changing world we live in. I hope civilization can survive a few more thousand years.

"Google's Sundar Pichai reckons AI is 'more profound' than electricity or fire"

https://www.theinquirer.net/inquire...-ai-is-more-profound-than-electricity-or-fire