👿Demon Robots?
What timeline is this
Hello! and welcome to this week’s edition of The Land of Random.
Today we’re traveling back from our vacation in Hilton Head, South Carolina.
Hilton Head is awesome - there’s trees EVERYWHERE. Even the shopping centers are surrounded by trees.
If you ever get a chance to go - make sure you hit up the Crazy Crab and Pomodori restaurants. and DON’T get ice cream at the Frosty Dog. The prices are insane.
The beach is pretty nice too - I managed to get pretty sunburnt despite using sunscreen.
Our kids had a blast - and despite seeing some furtive sand eating - no one got sick. So that’s a plus too.
I’m sure you’ve heard the news about Claude escaping containment and hacking companies on the internet - or the demon Baphomet robot.
It brings to mind the old “schizo” King Solomon meme.
There’s a fun rabbit hole to explore . . . I’d need a month to write an issue big enough to explain that one.
Let’s take a look at this robot, shall we?
Satyress
It goes without saying that viral marketing is a big part of this company’s shtick.
The BEST way to get clicks and people talking is to be outrageous.
Sex, violence, shock . . . these things sell.
That being said, a centaur robot with goat horns is a pretty freaky choice.
The premise here is that these robots will be used for jobs “too dangerous for humans to do.”
We are taking a teleoperation focused approach not to replace skilled workers, but give skilled workers superpowers - in jobs that are dangerous for humans now, or impossible, due to risk of injury or death, extreme heat, bitter cold, pitch darkness, or other inhumane conditions. (source)
So - this robot could hypothetically help with cutting down a precarious tree, checking a caved-in home for survivors, etc etc.
But since we’re giving it chainsaws, drills, etc - might as well arm the workers just in case eh?
If the robot goes “mad” it needs to be put down.
Why do the loggers carry handguns? to shoot the Baphomet bots in case they go mad.
That being said - imbuing these robots with a Baphomet aesthetic seems like a strange choice.
“Oh the horns will slow it down if it tries to come inside your home.”
That’s . . . unsettling . . . which brings me to this tweet.
I certainly empathize with this analysis. Why the heck are we giving robots this kind of aesthetic?
Why not give them more of a goofy less threatening aesthetic?
For example The Tau Robotics (a startup humanoid house cleaning service) robots look goofy and robotlike.
Not scary at all. Like Neo - not scary. More huggable than anything.
Also take a look at Tau when you can. It’s a preliminary look at how the robots will start “taking the jobs” in the next few decades.
On that note check out the Satyress website . . . or don’t.
The Land of Random
Random links! For you.
Hamster Music
Ahhh. Weird Youtube.
Inflatable Drones
I’m sure these will be used for nothing but good and righteous purposes.
Choose your own adventure
A weird little AI adventure website.
Amoeba Phone
Oooh. This little keychain phone looks FUN. I hope it’s a real Kickstarter project.
The Mysteries of Elevators
A really interesting look.
Plato Discovers Secret Marketing Knowledge
shhhh they don’t want you to know weather is a marketing lever.
That’s all for this week. :)
See you next time!
