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Comment by vijucat | Hacker News Reader

I suppose people working on such projects don't think of their creations as "scary as fuck"? Because that is exactly what I think when I see an effective dog-like robot. I cannot help but imagine, for example, that in the future, campus shootings will be replaced by campus robots hunting down students and faculty (due to malicious programming)! Is the fear I feel that irrational, founded only on Hollywood movies in which mankind always ends up fighting the rise of AI?

Also, (before software and hardware eat the world, literally) I don't think the capitalistic structure + unbridled automation is a stable combination. Because those who own the capital will always prefer an uncomplaining and efficient worker, the robot, to a human being 9 out of 10 times. And those who own their labour are, well, outdated. The pace of automation is beyond unprecedented; it is incomprehensible.

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> Is the fear I feel that irrational, founded only on Hollywood movies in which mankind always ends up fighting the rise of AI?

Almost certainly, yes. AI has its dangers, but it's also potentially the source of a huge amount of innovation and the solution to a broad class of problems.

> I don't think the capitalistic structure + unbridled automation is a stable combination.

There are other structures that could potentially work in a post-scarcity world, but let's create a post-scarcity world first, and file the rest under "problems we'd love to have".

I'd be more concerned about something like this robotic machine gun, which is designed to do nothing but kill humans efficiently:

http://www.ubergizmo.com/2014/09/samsung-sgr-a1-robot-sentry... "$200,000, all weather, 5.56 mm robotic machine gun also sports an optional grenade launcher... identify and shoot a target automatically from over two miles away... robot will not distinguish between friend or foe..."

The economic impact of robotics/automation was discussed quite extensively month ago here at HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8183172

Scary? That thing is awesome. And totally not threatening. It would be able to hunt you for 10 minutes and then run out of battery. If it does catch up to you, you can always go up a stairs, or just kick it over.

AI is of course a serious concern. But this isn't AI, it's a robot.

> In labs everywhere, experimental robots would leap up from lab benches in a murderous rage, locate the door, and—with a tremendous crash—plow into it and fall over.

> Those robots lucky enough to have limbs that can operate a doorknob, or to have the door left open for them, would have to contend with deceptively tricky rubber thresholds before they could get into the hallway.

https://what-if.xkcd.com/5/

It's like looking at cars and only thinking how dangerous they might be if someone decides to run you over. And it's true, over 30,000 people die in the US every year from car accidents. But the potential seems to be worth it for most people.

capitalistic structure + unbridled automation is a stable combination

It's worth noting that the killing robots in use now are the drones in service of the United States government.

Sure, sooner or later, individuals are going to build robots that run amuck and kill some people - but to really massacre at a large scale takes a state sponsor.

Or a robot that runs amok, that cant easily be stopped by, hacking it, shooting it with rifles, shooting it with cannons, bombing it, or shooting it with missiles, cruise or otherwise.

You know... crazy mad scientist Japanese Anime Mecha or Star Wars Worldeater type stuff.

Without a doubt that is likely. But, you are missing the part where robotics will also likely significantly raise standard of living. It is also extremely likely that advanced robotics will have a further polarizing effect on wealth distribution.

In general society is moving towards significant increase in monitoring and automation, technology is making it simpler and cheaper to do so, I do not foresee reversal of this trend baring a catastrophe class event. This means that we as a society will have to seriously reexamine privacy as a whole.

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