12 Matching Annotations
  1. Oct 2024
    1. lthough I do have to admit, with COVID and with a lot of remote learning and telehealth, and everything is not that far from what has actually happened.

      COVID forced industries to upgrade their tech due to the remote living conditions.

    2. At the same time, alongside the demographic picture, there’s already a shortage of thousands of care workers. The most recent estimate that I’ve seen is that the shortfall is expected to reach almost quarter of million people by 2025.

      Human care workers are not available, which begs the question of if robots are a suitable replacement.

    3. e you said that, Japan has one of the oldest national populations, currently, it’s about 30% of the population are aged over 65 and that’s expected to reach 40% by 2050. At the same time, the total fertility rate is well below the population replacement level and it has been for many years now.

      There is clearly a need for more attention on elder care, and robots is one of the tools being used.

    1. “In Japan we already have motor-supported bicycles so it is like a version of an assist for walking,” Hirukawa said during a demonstration at the Foreign Press Center Japan.

      Previous technology supports this idea.

    2. “Robotics cannot solve all of these issues; however, robotics will be able to make a contribution to some of these difficulties,” he said.

      They understand the threat of automation and view robots as an auxiliary tool, not a replacement.

    3. Dr Hirohisa Hirukawa, director of robot innovation research at Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, said the aims included easing the burden on nursing staff and boosting the autonomy of people still living at home.

      There is government backing for this idea, demonstrated by funding for the National Institute.

  2. Sep 2024
    1. Of course, Rule 1 potential above everything. But he didn't want that clumsy antique; he wanted Speedy. He walked away and motioned frantically: "I order you to stay away. I order you to stop!"

      The hierarchy of the rules is interesting, as this piece explores what happens if the rules present a conflict of interest.

    2. he gigantic robots moved slowly, with mechanical precision, through the doorway that cleared their heads by a scant foot, so that the two men had to duck hurriedly, along a narrow corridor in which their unhurried footsteps boomed monotonously and into the air lock.

      This relates to Turing's question of if machines can think- the robots' "mechanical precision" implies otherwise.

    3. here was consideration while the robot's slow brain worked.

      This implies that the robot takes a methodical approach to solve tasks.

  3. Aug 2024
    1. new world has arisen, the rule of the Robots, march.

      This foreshadows what robots and technology could potentially do to humanity- if robots can feel emotions, then it only makes sense that they feel animosity towards humans.

    2. Radius. I don’t want a master. I want to be master over others.

      Humanity has employed robots as a source of unpaid labor, and the fact that the robots exhibit hatred towards humanity is evidence of their ability to feel and experience emotions that are as true and palpable as that of humanity's.

    3. Helena. But if you thought you saw the destruction of mankind coming upon us— Alquist. I do see it. Helena. You mean mankind will be destroyed?

      This excerpt alludes to the fact that perhaps humanity is destined to be obliterated as technology surmounts human intelligence, which is poetic that humanity's own creation would be its eventual downfall.