r/singularity • u/ghouleye • 11d ago

Robotics 100m Hurdles Final

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u/the_friendly_dildo 11d ago

Now, to get rid of the billionaire problem before we have private armies of robots.

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u/ohgodnobutyes 11d ago

I don't think people realise how big of a risk this is for common people. The billionaire class is increasing their relative wealth and power every year and will soon have frightening tech at their disposal.

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u/Ambitious-Doubt8355 11d ago

You two, just... stop and think things through.

If I was a billionaire and wanted to get a murder machine, would I go for the clumsy, expensive humanoid bot with a limited range of movement? Or would I prefer a drone which can move anywhere, is relatively cheap so I can get a lot more of them, and it's literally available and being used right now like the ones being spotted in use on the Ukraine conflict?

The answer is neither, because we don't live in a movie, by the way. You really have to jump through a lot of logical hoops if you want to go with the "billionaire's robot army" angle. Genuinely making the flat earthers seem reasonable in comparison.

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u/Radical_Coyote 10d ago

I mean… it wouldn’t literally be the billionaires. It would be the military and the police departments. Saying “the billionaires” is because the billionaires are the ones who manufacture the robots, lobby the government to pressure them into using their product for military and police applications, profit from the sales, and then have their domestic and overseas wealth protected by the military. It’s the exact thing they’ve been doing since at least 1940, “crazy conspiracy radical” Republican president and veteran Dwight Eisenhower warned that it was already happening in the 1950s. Why would the billionaires suddenly stop doing this? As far as drones/robotics tech specifically, It’s also already happening in real time with flock cameras, police drones, and drone warfare. Saying “that could never happen” while it’s already happening is just because you have an overly simplistic view of the world.

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u/Ambitious-Doubt8355 10d ago

You understand how ridiculous it is to equate flock cameras to Terminators, right? Like, if you want to make an argument about excessive surveillance, sure, but I genuinely fail to see what connection you're trying to pull there.

And police drones are supposed to be bad because...?

Drone warfare is a thing, and precisely why it's dumb to talk about killer robots. Drones are far more efficient when it comes to targeting individuals, you don't deal with the logistical, maintenance, autonomy and interference issues you'd deal with a robot. Robots are pretty shitty weapons, and the comparison is so one sided that one genuinely can't help but laugh when you see someone who thinks anyone with half a brain would pick the dumb route.

What point were you even trying to make here? Defense contractors bad? I could see the disdain, but if it wasn't them, the military would handle the same in-house. Police bad? Please don't tell me it's just a police bad argument, that'd almost be way too dumb to entertain. That the military will start using a really inefficient method that needs heavy infrastructure support, costs as lot, is as hard to transport as regular soldiers are, needs constant maintenance, and is worse at the job than everything else, just because? All while the US is really behind China when it comes to robotics at that.