Robotics is huge right now, and the truth is we’ll probably have robot assistants in the near future. Meanwhile, we have robotic reindeer. Boston Dynamics has released a holiday video that surely puts people in the Christmas spirit, featuring a trio of their Spot robotic dogs adorably pulling a sleigh on the frame.
Some Found these Robotic Reindeer Horrifying
For the record, these robotic reindeer are adorable. Boston Dynamics has very appropriately given us a picture of our future. The team is currently designing the most advanced robots in the country, and this is a small show of what they can do.
Their Spot robots have recently participated in training sessions with US Marines. It’s possible these robots will see some kind of military application in the future. This video also proves that these bad boys are ready for more than the terrain of their offices.
Boston Dynamics Is Just Bringing Us the Holiday Cheer in Their Own Way
Some people have called these robots terrifying simply because of their slightly headless look, but to be fair, their feet are cute. The point is not in how they look anyway, it is in their functionality. They appear very lifelike, with the middle Spot lagging a little behind and holding up the robot pulling the sleigh. All movement looks only minimally robotic. It actually flows really well.
The Whole World is Adapting Robots into Daily Life
Others are actually afraid of the technology and not the robots themselves. This is perfectly understandable. Nobody currently over the age of 65 probably expected robots to be a thing already. The truth is, it’s about time. It raises some concerns on its liveliness, and makes people question whether or not it is a live object or a robotic being. In fact, these robots are probably only weird in America. All over the world, there are already robots working full time and giving people a refreshing sight at cashiers, especially in Japan. According to a recent study, robots could be filling half of all Japanese jobs by 2035, and that’s only the beginning.
It’s Not As Scary As We Think
This isn’t a futuristic fatale sci-fi movie. Robots won’t probably take over the world. They could help someone take over (and we have high suspicions that this could be Elon Musk), but they won’t Gozilla us per se. While reindeer do not look like the image that Boston Dynamics showed us, they’re free to look however Boston Dynamics wants them to look. The technology will continue to get developed and polished until we are truly afraid of robots. This won’t be because they look so foreign, but it may well be because they look so similar to us.
Robots Are Our Future
Physical and cybernetic robots are already among us. These robot reindeer are joined by Cortana, Siri, M, the Facebook AI, Google’s Gmail AI and many others. Artificial intelligence is growing at an incredibly fast pace. Our only option is to keep up. Right now, all of this technology is only doing good. As with anything, it has the potential to go wrong, but Silicon Valley has a lot of faith in their potential. We could be surprised about what will chance in every aspect of life thanks to this advancing technology.
Robots Still Need Humans to Work
That doesn’t mean that technology will overpower us. Robots and artificial intelligence interfaces are still subject to what humans put into their algorithms. No matter how fast they learn, they need to learn from someone. Hopefully, that will be humans for a long time to come. Otherwise, we may not be able to think about the unsettling feeling that comes with super smart technology for very long.
