By By Paul Wallis Sep 1, 2014 in Technology Sydney - The robots are coming, but not the way you’d expect. They’re about to replace the suits, and perhaps even declutter your home. Spooky? Much more than that. There’s a “vision of excellence," and you know what that means — chaos. There are now hundreds of research labs and over a dozen journals. There are over 5 million service robots like the Roomba vacuuming homes and offices and over 3000 robots assisting surgeons in operating rooms around the world. There have also been major advances in digital cameras, inertial motion sensors, and other sensors. When Microsoft introduced the Kinect 3D camera for gaming, it was a major breakthrough for robotics, providing a low-cost way to obtain 3D point clouds that can help robots navigate and manipulate. In 2012, President Obama announced the U.S. National Robotics Initiative with over $70 million in new funding for research. I believe the Cloud is the key to a new generation of robots. Take Google’s robot car. The car uses the network to access Google’s enormous database of maps and satellite and Streetview images and combines it with streaming data from GPS, cameras, and 3D sensors to monitor its own position within centimeters, and with past and current traffic patterns to avoid collisions. This gives Google an enormous advantage over automobile companies like Toyota and General Motors. Yes, this guy is a robotics expert. He pioneered a robot gardener based on a car assembly robot believed to be the most used robot in the world, he’s up to speed, and the tech is now a lot more advanced. The problem, however, is that the robots may need to go looking for information about how to manage tasks. …From the Internet. If you’re having visions of robots suddenly having conspiracy theories, it’s not quite that bad. It’s arguably worse. Like the Google car, the robots can access not only the Cloud, but that irritating thing, the Internet of Things. This is the fully connected, badly explained collection of gizmos that adds up, sadly enough to a “mathematical concept” called “Belief Space,” which means “…to model the environment, sensors, and actions using probability distributions.” This in turns means accessing information from just about everywhere. Yes, also- Another hideously defined concept is about to revolutionize human life. The theory is that: Belief Space was considered intractable until very recently, when we gained access to clusters of computers on demand through the Cloud. Such computing power also facilitates statistical optimization, machine learning, and planning motions in high dimensions with many simultaneously moving robots. At this point, let’s consider — a generation of robots, responsible for a large range of tasks, will be able to access all the knowledge they need from that incorruptible medium, the Internet and its big baby brother, the Cloud, which isn’t yet out of the bassinet in terms of hard reality management. So — robots with trusted servers, accessing data through the Cloud. OK. Simple enough. Not reassuring, but what is? If you’re thinking that there’s a lot of tech-based idealism floating around, equating the Internet of Things with the Real World of Constant Mistakes and Online Nutcases, you’re basically right. Like when the net itself was supposed to free the masses (remember them?) and scuttle off to a Jetsons-like world of dogs in space helmets, this is a vision, not a working fact. (In fairness, there’s a lot of hard science, if not hard fact, behind the basic idea. The degree of innovation in robotics, including making a robot out of an old Sony game controller and lollipops, yes lollipops, makes the idea a lot more plausible. If you can turn Chupa Chups into working robots, these people aren’t totally lost.) We now move on to everyone’s dream, robot banks. Amazing how these guys are always finding exactly what everyone wants, whether they like it or not. Sydney Morning Herald Artificial intelligence is about to outpace human ability, according to Dave Coplin, a senior Microsoft executive. Computers will not only be able to undertake complex mathematical equations but draw logical, nuanced conclusions, reducing the need for human interference, he said. This will render certain professions redundant, while other "human only" skills will become increasingly valuable. "I believe in Moravec's Paradox," Mr Coplin, Microsoft's UK-based chief envisioning officer, told The Telegraph, referring to the 1980s hypothesis discovered by artificial intelligence and robotics researchers. "This states that what we think is easy, robots find really hard, and what we think it really hard, robots find easy," he said. Self explanatory, isn’t it? The article is entitled “Bankers beware, robot revolution set to push humans aside.” The use of the word humans, in context with the endlessly self-denying banking sector is debatable, but you get the idea. The meaning behind that statement, however, is that machines can do banking, and presumably accounting and things like futures, forex and commodities trading, a lot better than humans. So before you get robots folding your laundry, you’ll have them doing your financial stuff. Isn’t it just adorable? Yep, believe it or not, those worthless humans will make a comeback, with “humans only skills,” possibly meaning trolling, waiting tables and holding meetings. How totally unexpected. And this gem: In the future, ambient intelligence will allow devices to anticipate your needs and respond in real time. Your phone will send automated email responses based on keywords and contributing factors such as location, time of day, and calendar entries. Yes! Your phone will be able to help you be tracked and killed in real time, with a bit of innovation. Location, time and where to find you without even bothering to look. Great stuff. The theory of privacy and anonymity has never had any traction in the evergreen fields of tech development. Everyone is part of one big happy collection of confused primates, whether they like it or not, under this regime. Not happy with face recognition technology, a police state’s dream tech, we now have built-in eavesdropping, too. Apparently, everyone needs to be visible at all times. Which would explain why one of the new social media developments is a way of being aware of conversations of which you’re not a part. Now a question or so, rhetorical as they are: Will anyone ever pay attention to the downsides of all this connectivity? Answer, no. Will anyone ever realize the fact that all this technology is infinitely abuse-able? Answer, no. Idealism and reality aren’t the same things, guys. Consider that, in the depths of your presumably infinite knowledge, and this load of spin might just be able to fly without exterminating the entire human race. Let’s start with the Cloud and robots. According to Medium.com’s robotics expert Yes, this guy is a robotics expert. He pioneered a robot gardener based on a car assembly robot believed to be the most used robot in the world, he’s up to speed, and the tech is now a lot more advanced. The problem, however, is that the robots may need to go looking for information about how to manage tasks.…From the Internet. If you’re having visions of robots suddenly having conspiracy theories, it’s not quite that bad. It’s arguably worse. Like the Google car, the robots can access not only the Cloud, but that irritating thing, the Internet of Things. This is the fully connected, badly explained collection of gizmos that adds up, sadly enough to a “mathematical concept” called “Belief Space,” which means “…to model the environment, sensors, and actions using probability distributions.” This in turns means accessing information from just about everywhere.Yes, also- Another hideously defined concept is about to revolutionize human life. The theory is that:At this point, let’s consider — a generation of robots, responsible for a large range of tasks, will be able to access all the knowledge they need from that incorruptible medium, the Internet and its big baby brother, the Cloud, which isn’t yet out of the bassinet in terms of hard reality management.So — robots with trusted servers, accessing data through the Cloud. OK. Simple enough. Not reassuring, but what is?If you’re thinking that there’s a lot of tech-based idealism floating around, equating the Internet of Things with the Real World of Constant Mistakes and Online Nutcases, you’re basically right. Like when the net itself was supposed to free the masses (remember them?) and scuttle off to a Jetsons-like world of dogs in space helmets, this is a vision, not a working fact.(In fairness, there’s a lot of hard science, if not hard fact, behind the basic idea. The degree of innovation in robotics, including making a robot out of an old Sony game controller and lollipops, yes lollipops, makes the idea a lot more plausible. If you can turn Chupa Chups into working robots, these people aren’t totally lost.)We now move on to everyone’s dream, robot banks. Amazing how these guys are always finding exactly what everyone wants, whether they like it or not.Self explanatory, isn’t it? The article is entitled “Bankers beware, robot revolution set to push humans aside.” The use of the word humans, in context with the endlessly self-denying banking sector is debatable, but you get the idea.The meaning behind that statement, however, is that machines can do banking, and presumably accounting and things like futures, forex and commodities trading, a lot better than humans. So before you get robots folding your laundry, you’ll have them doing your financial stuff.Isn’t it just adorable?Yep, believe it or not, those worthless humans will make a comeback, with “humans only skills,” possibly meaning trolling, waiting tables and holding meetings. How totally unexpected.And this gem:Yes! Your phone will be able to help you be tracked and killed in real time, with a bit of innovation. Location, time and where to find you without even bothering to look. Great stuff. The theory of privacy and anonymity has never had any traction in the evergreen fields of tech development. Everyone is part of one big happy collection of confused primates, whether they like it or not, under this regime.Not happy with face recognition technology, a police state’s dream tech, we now have built-in eavesdropping, too. Apparently, everyone needs to be visible at all times. Which would explain why one of the new social media developments is a way of being aware of conversations of which you’re not a part.Now a question or so, rhetorical as they are:Will anyone ever pay attention to the downsides of all this connectivity? Answer, no.Will anyone ever realize the fact that all this technology is infinitely abuse-able? Answer, no.Idealism and reality aren’t the same things, guys. Consider that, in the depths of your presumably infinite knowledge, and this load of spin might just be able to fly without exterminating the entire human race. This opinion article was written by an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not necessarily intended to reflect those of DigitalJournal.com More about Robotics, Belief Space, internet of things, Clouds and robotics, Face recognition Robotics Belief Space internet of things Clouds and robotics Face recognition Microsoft Social media Dave Coplin