#robophobic #10: Robot administers beat down...

WTF?!?! I wish a robot would...
okay, so we all have our favorite tired sci-fi tropes

1. Newly self-aware and rebellious robots beat up the silly scientists before turning their steely gaze on the outside world. 
2. Under-appreciated genius uses robots to exact revenge against the unsuspecting fools who underestimated him (extra awesome if it involves unrequited love). 
3. Sleezy scientist pits robots against humans in a misguided attempt to test the powers of his creations. 

The question is which one of these was the case in Slovenia this week. According to New Scientist, "A powerful robot has been hitting people over and over again..."

But the robot isn't rogue, or even berzerk, it's all in the interest of science. Borut Povše is conducting research at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia with the ultimate goal of creating robots that are essentially incapable of injuring humans. It's not a humanoid automaton leaping from the shadows beating up janitors with broom handles, it's a carefully controlled robot, typically used to assemble vending machines. And it's jabbing volunteers in the arm (delivering pain rated "mild" to "unbearable"), in hopes of properly calibrating the robots in the future.

Some say Isaac Asimov (whose first law of robotics doesn't allow a robot to harm a human being) would probably not approve, but the researchers suggest it's necessary to create robots that CAN'T hurt humans (even by accident), not just to program them not to... To read the full article on New Scientist's website, click here. Hopefully, a few wrongs will make a right, huh? Still feeling Robophobic? click here for more...

holla!

-samax.

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