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Hey, remember all those tongue-in-cheek jokes we made about advances in robotics and how eventually they’ll turn on us?
A robotics engineer whose middle name is probably “Skynet” or something literally built a robot that swings a razor blade at flesh when it senses it’s within reach.
No, we’re not kidding, and this isn’t a joke. Watch for yourself:
Come on. Seriously?
Creator Alexander Reben is trying to make an important point about a conversation we haven’t had about the future of robotics, and we’re all on the same side here. I believe that’s the side of humanity not being enslaved or wiped out? But this is kind of like nuking a small country to remind people how dangerous nuclear weapons are.
Robots can fly, swim, climb stairs, dodge a fencing foil, get up after we kick them, and remember environmental information — so it’s pretty clear that if the robot that remembers getting kicked over and the Stab-Bot 4000 ever get beers together, we’re all going to die and nothing can save us. Unless they’re all made out of wood like this guy—then we might have a chance.
I for one, welcome our new robot overlords.
[H/T NPR]