If Cyborgs Don't Work Out, How About Robots?

http://www.rbbtoday.com/news/20090317/58635.html

The "HRP (Humanoid Robotics Project)-4C" is modeled on an average Japanese woman with a height of 158cm and a weight of 43kg (seems we've made our GSG's too heavy).

aren't they being built due to the need for carers for the elderly ?

Nah, those robots would lack personality and ability for making good, rational decisions. They'll only be good at following nothing but their handlers' orders and won't be able to dodge a bullet if they weren't ordered to. I'd say stick to the cyborgs

Awinnell wrote:aren't they being built due to the need for carers for the elderly ?

That may be ,but for some reason, I get the feeling there's some perv out there hoping to harness humanoid robot technology for "other purposes".

Japan already has that function covered.

I'm betting that was the first function they covered.

With sites like Real Doll and Boy Toys [dot]com, of course they were the first to be special ordered for special needs...

These might be interesting if someone wanted to just hold a technical discussion, but as far as using them as a replacement for GSGs? An AI sophisticated enough to do that simply doesn't exist. So even if you could make the robot look like a human, what would be the point?

Piero wrote:These might be interesting if someone wanted to just hold a technical discussion, but as far as using them as a replacement for GSGs? An AI sophisticated enough to do that simply doesn't exist. So even if you could make the robot look like a human, what would be the point?

The only way one could possibly operate one is by remote, but in that case it would probably seem more awkward than a real person, and that would be a dead giveaway. Also, as far as combat is concerned, except for undercover ops., which are probably best handled by living, breathing intelligence agents, I can't see any military mission that a humanoid robot can do that a non-humanoid ground robot, a UCAV (like a Predator), or a soldier/manned vehicle couldn't do better.

Androids, eh? As long as they're not taken over by a hyper-intelligent AI who ends up nuking the world and uses said androids to hunt out the last remaining humans on the earth, I'd be fine with them walking around.

As for whether or not they would replace the GSGs, no. We've already got the above scenario to worry about, and I don't think we need an army of Cyber-Welfare Agency Series 900 Model 505 "Henrietta's" walking around terminating us humans.

I suppose they could become like Major Kusanagi in Ghost in the Shell - android body with an artificial brain that carries the memories and experiences of the original biologic host.

That's a cool idea. How about a RoboCop-type hulking chunk of metal running about acting cute. Ok...scratch that idea.

Or how about a world where machines have attained self-awareness and begin to do things for humans. Wait...Scratch that idea too. Too many copyright issues

I don't think we need an army of Cyber-Welfare Agency Series 900 Model 505 "Henrietta's" walking around terminating us humans.

Kiskaloo wrote:I suppose they could become like Major Kusanagi in Ghost in the Shell - android body with an artificial brain that carries the memories and experiences of the original biologic host.

A nice idea, since that way the girls wouldn't die and actually live as long as their cyberbrains stayed in one piece. Though the way GitS does it they do have copies if needs be, but if you keep uinsg those then each copy from a copy gets worse and worse.

Still it's a big leap from the current tech GSG uses. And then we have nasty copyright issues and so forth, heh.