Befriend this flamethrowing robot dog … before it’s too late



Last week, flamethrowing robo-dogs became the newest draft pick for the military-industrial complex.

Now, I love dogs. I am proudly a “dog person.” Hopefully, my dog buddies will be waiting for me in heaven. But I don’t know how to feel about Throwflame’s weaponized dog, Thermonator. With the push of a button for the plasma arc ignition, the murder mutt starts marching in a perfect cadence.

This quarter-gallon of canned Mt. Vesuvius is undoubtedly capable of far more than we even realize, but who needs to be a worrywart about the prospect of automated doom?

Think of it as a kind of video game. A great one about the collapse of human civilization or imprisonment of sentient robot soldiers: These diesel-fueled canine machines are as heartless as any death-ready contraption.

I’m told they don’t currently provide decapitation or fatal electricity, but I suspect that it’s only a matter of time before these geniuses have that light-bulb moment. In the meantime, we can only dream. Additionally, we have confirmed that our inevitable dystopia will have lots of fire. For $9,420, you can sample the horrendous technological weaponry that is coming to enslave us and our children. Probably for generations! If you’re looking for the ARC flamethrower without the pup friend, it starts at $699, but where’s the fun (and terror) in that?

The Robot Dog With A Flamethrower | Thermonatorwww.youtube.com

Suspend, for a moment, the primal fear of seeing man’s best friend weaponized into a robotic flamethrowing maniac. If you can get over that image, this little side road on the voyage to a brighter future is a little easier to gulp down. This weaponized scorch-pup has all sorts of uses, like warfare, combat, espionage, torture, and genocide.

We have been slowly making ourselves redundant with engineering machinery and software increasingly capable of outsmarting and outperforming us. But sure, why not? Why shouldn’t we construct a flamethrowing robot dog capable of sprinting at literal breakneck speeds within the blink of an eye? Don’t let its mechanical death eyes frighten you. Or better yet, scoot back far enough that you can’t see them — the flame has a 30-foot max firing range anyway.

Careful not to pet the Thermonator’s seamless 6061-T6 aluminum body. It could be warm from the flamethrowing.

This quarter-gallon of canned Mt. Vesuvius is undoubtedly capable of far more than we even realize, but who needs to be a worrywart about the prospect of automated doom?

The specs on the robot dog are similar to Boston Dynamics iterations of robo-dogs, beginning with Big Dog, a giant four-legged robot that looks like a massive nightmare flea but is more closely linked to the beloved and popular robotic dog named Spot. The Throwflame version more closely resembles Boston Dynamics' LittleDog, which ought not to need an explanation. Then, in 2016, Boston Dynamics released a robot unlike any of its others: It was vaguely human: The Agile Anthropomorphic Robot "Atlas" is a six-foot (183 cm) bipedal humanoid robot, based on Boston Dynamics' earlier PETMAN humanoid robot, and designed for a variety of search and rescue tasks.

Meet Sparkles | Boston Dynamicswww.youtube.com

Although ultimately, we may find the most guidance from YouTube, the top comment of the promo for the flamethrowing robo-pup: "Just as the founding fathers intended."

Thankfully, these robots can’t start a revolution. Not yet, at least!

Androids are marching onto the production line at BMW



Restless chrome androids are set to march onto the production line at BMW.

The German automotive company recently signed a commercial agreement with the California-based robot manufacturer Figure to use its humanoid automatons in "automotive manufacturing environments."

The Figure 01 is a 5'6" android that weighs 132.2 pounds and can supposedly work for five hours before requiring a recharge. According to the company, the humanistic simulacrum can move at a speed of nearly 2.7 mph and can lift up to 44 pounds. In addition to stumbling about where humans once worked and lifting boxes, the android can apparently also open doors, use tools, and climb stairs.

— (@)

Robert Engelhorn, president and CEO of BMW Manufacturing, said in a statement, "The automotive industry, and with it the production of vehicles, is evolving rapidly. BMW Manufacturing is committed to integrating innovative technologies in our production systems to drive our future forward as an industry leader and innovator."

"The use of general purpose robot solutions has the potential to make productivity more efficient, to support the growing demands of our consumers, and to enable our team to focus on the transformation ahead of us," added Engelhorn.

Brett Adcock, CEO and founder of Figure, said, "Single-purpose robotics have saturated the commercial market for decades, but the potential of general purpose robotics is completely untapped. Figure's robots will enable companies to increase productivity, reduce costs, and create a safer and more consistent environment."

Figure's agreement with BMW reportedly allows for a staged deployment. First, the robotics company will look for "initial use cases" where its androids can be deployed. Once opportunities for automation are identified — likely areas presently occupied by inspirited human workers — Figure's androids will be trotted out, beginning with the car company's facility in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

Adcock told Axios, "I think the next 24 months you'll start seeing humanoid robots in the real world."

The relative cost of this replacement workforce will likely be driven down by fierce competition. After all, Figure's deal with BMW may be the first of its kind, but it's not the only android game in town.

Sanctuary AI, a Vancouver-based company, has created a general-purpose robot called Phoenix. Powered by the Carbon AI control system, Phoenix has a competitive payload of 55 pounds and a max speed of 3 mph.

Norway's OpenAI-backed 1X has already made its EVE android available for purchase. EVE is 6'2", 192 pounds and has a top speed of 9 mph. It tops the Figure 01 on battery life with a six-hour run time and can lift 33 pounds. While autonomous, human operators can also reportedly control a fleet of EVEs, tapping into their cameras.

Ix admits on its website that its androids can automate jobs traditionally performed by humans, suggesting that those put out of work "can also be trained for more complex roles."

Boston Dynamics' Atlas is another competitor in the field, albeit a headless one. Atlas can travel at 2.5 m/s, weighs 196 pounds, and is nearly five feet tall. Unlike other androids, Atlas is relatively nimble and capable of performing various acrobatic feats.

Tesla's Optimus bot appears to be lagging behind the pack of job-killers. Nevertheless, South African billionaire Elon Musk recently indicated Optimus can now fold a shirt.

— (@)

Markets and Markets reported last year that the size of the global android market last year was $1.8 billion. It is, however, projected to grow to $13.8 billion by 2028. This growth is expected to be driven largely by demands in the medical and hospitality sectors. There will reportedly also be opportunities for android deployment in different fields of rescue operations.

The announcement of the Figure-BMW android deal came just days ahead of the release of a MIT study that suggested that the threat of AI automation soon taking over various human jobs — hyped by previous reports — may be overblown

After conducting a cost breakdown of what it would take to replace various workers on vision-based tasks with AI-powered systems, the researchers concluded, "We find that at today's costs US businesses would choose not to automate most vision tasks that have 'AI Exposure,' and that only 23 [percent] of worker wages being paid for vision tasks would be attractive to automate."

Neil Thompson, co-author of the study and an investigator at MIT Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, noted that the study indicated "a more gradual integration of AI into various sectors, contrasting with the often hypothesized rapid AI-driven job displacement."

Adcock suggested to Axios that Figure 01 "can do basically everything a human can."

The Figure CEO is not the only one who appears bullish on the prospect of a tin man workforce.

The Wall Street Journal indicated earlier this month that expensive union contracts have prompted greater interest among carmakers in automation.

Laurie Harbour, president of Michigan manufacturing consulting firm Harbour Results, told the Journal, "Automation is the future. More so than we've ever seen."

"There's robots in every factory," United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain recently told Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.). "The companies have used technology as a way to cut jobs instead of interjecting robots and technology to make our jobs easier."

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Robot grabs then brutally slaughters worker, allegedly mistaking him for a box of paprika



An industrial robot brutally slaughtered a South Korean robotics technician Tuesday, allegedly mistaking him for just another container of organic material in need of stacking.

The victim, a man in his 40s, was attempting to diagnose an issue with a pick-and-place robot's sensor at the Donggoseong Export Agricultural Complex in the southern county of Goseong, as there was an equipment test planned for later in the week, reported the Register.

The paprika-sorting robot, reportedly created and installed by the victim's employer, spotted the man with its sensor, figured him for a box of vegetables, then seized him using its arms and tongs. After grabbing the technician, the robot apparently smashed him against a conveyor belt.

According to the Korean-language Yonhap News Agency, the victim's face and chest were crushed. He was taken to a hospital, where he later died.

An official from the agricultural complex said the company has come to rely upon robots more and humans less and that the accident occurred after the facility attempted to make robots more efficient. The official added that "a precise and safe system must be established."

On account of South Korea's dwindling workforce, robots, smart and dumb, have become ubiquitous.

Nikkei Asia reported last year that a rising minimum wage and a dearth of workers have made robots price-competitive in a variety of industries. For instance, robot waiters and robot chefs, introduced four years ago, are now in restaurants across the country. Robotic chefs can apparently fry 50 chickens an hour or cook up spicy rice cakes for five people in under 10 minutes. Fleshy and inspirited concierges are also fast being replaced by silicon and steel, although doesn't seem their charm has yet been replicated.

According to the International Federation of Robotics, South Korea, the fourth-largest robot market in the world, has 1,000 robots installed per 10,000 employees, such that as of 2021, the country had the highest industrial robot density in the world by a giant margin.

Kang Jin-gi, lead investigator at the Goseong Police Station, indicated the South Korean worker's killer "wasn't an advanced, artificial intelligence-powered robot, but a machine that simply picks up boxes and puts them on pallets," reported the Washington Post.

An unnamed police official suggested that the victim may have had a box in his hands at the time of the incident, which might explain why the robot snatched him up.

"It's clearly not a case where a robot confused a human with a box — this wasn't a very sophisticated machine," said the official.

In February, the American Journal of Industrial Medicine revealed that between 1992 and 2017, 41 people were reportedly killed by robots; 85% of the victims were men, the plurality falling between the ages of 35 and 44.

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FACT CHECK: Did A.I Robots Kill 29 Humans In A Japanese Lab?

There is no evidence to support this claim

Humanoid robots may account for 4% of manufacturing labor force by 2030, Goldman Sachs predicts



In Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'s 1952 novel "Player Piano," the nation's managerial class rendered workers — off fighting in the third world war — obsolete by replacing them with machines.

The investment banking firm Goldman Sachs has suggested in a new report that America need not wait for war. In fact, the corporation said America by 2030 will be well on its way to replacing human bodies with metal ones.

A humanoid in every home

Goldman Sachs estimated that in 10 to 15 years, the humanoid robots market will have a market size of approximately $6 billion. Accordingly, it will be capable of filling 4% of the U.S. manufacturing labor needs by 2030 and 2% of global elderly care demand by 2035.

CNBC reported that in Goldman Sachs' "blue-sky scenario," where the "hurdles of product design, use case, technology, affordability and wide public acceptance [are] completely overcome," the humanoid robots market could reach $152 billion by 2035. As a point of comparison, that would be one-third of the global smartphone market circa 2021.

\u201cThe next Car/Phone?\n\nGoldman forecasts that humanoid robots could have the potential to become the next widely adopted device after smartphones & cars:\u201d
— Brett Adcock (@Brett Adcock) 1667400014

While labor shortages may previously have been resolved with higher wages or shifts in educational focus, they might soon be remedied with machines such as Tesla's humanoid robot prototype, the "Optimus."

\u201cJUST IN: Tesla, $TSLA officially unveils AI bot 'Optimus'\n\n\u201d
— Watcher.Guru (@Watcher.Guru) 1664587480

Like Goldman Sachs, Tesla CEO Elon Musk is similarly bullish concerning the humanoid robot market.

Reuters reported that Musk indicated his robots — he intends to make millions of them — will soon be more valuable than his cars.

Musk's stated goal is an ambitious one: to get the production cost of each humanoid robot under $20,000 and to lead the creation of a "quasi-infinite" economy. He hopes to get the cheaper iteration of the robot to consumers in "three to five years."

According to Musk, some successor of the Optimus might be used in homes to make dinners, mow the lawn, care for geriatrics, and also service humans' emotional needs.

Clearly, Goldman Sachs does not consider Musk's outlook too audacious.

CNBC reported that in achieving this end, Goldman Sachs recognizes investment opportunities in motion components, gyroscope/inertia measurement units "to keep the robot's balance," sensing modules (e.g., involving camera, radar, ultrasonic, and lidar sensors), and in software and hardware.

Job terminator

Automation is hardly a new trend. A 2020 study out of MIT suggested that from 1990 to 2007, "adding one additional robot per 1,000 workers reduced the national employment-to-population ratio by about 0.2 percent." Put another way, "each additional robot added in manufacturing replaced about 3.3 workers nationally, on average."

According to the MIT study, adding robots to the workplace also depressed wages by approximately 0.4%.

The Foundation for Economic Education put a positive spin on this trend in 2017, suggesting that outmoded human workers could be retrained and deployed in other departments and that improved efficiencies due to automation could mean pay increases or more (albeit different) jobs.

A 2018 PricewaterhouseCoopers report indicated that nearly 40% of jobs in the U.S. were at risk of automation.

Forbes reported that while 30% of all tasks were done by machines in 2020, a 50-50 balance would be realized by 2025.

The World Economic Forum estimated in its "Future of Jobs Report 2020" that 85 million jobs will be displaced by artificial intelligence and another 97 million new jobs would be created by 2025.

Whereas clunky, large, and faceless machines have long been taking the place of human beings, the sun has dawned on a new era of mobile robots endowed with AI, increasingly articulable claws, and anthropomorphic features.

NATO and China showcase their latest killer drones, turning page on autonomous ground warfare



October was a big month for ground-based killer drones. The Royal Netherlands Army announced on Oct. 14 that it had begun armed robot trials, deploying four armed and unmanned tanks to Lithuania. China similarly showcased defense contractor Kestrel's "combat dog" system in an Oct. 3 video demonstrating the unmanned ground vehicle's carriage by aerial drone and ability to run with a light machine gun.

While UGVs are presently an unreliable supplement to flesh-and-blood ground forces, their development and growing capabilities may signal their future adoption as soulless substitutes.

A new breed of dog

A social media account affiliated with Chinese defense contractor Kestrel released a video earlier this month of an unmanned aerial vehicle dropping off a robotic four-legged dog equipped with what WarZone reported was possibly a Chinese QBB-97 light machine gun, capable of firing 650 rounds per minute.

\u201cBlood-Wing, a Chinese defense contractor, demonstrates drone-deploying an armed robodog.\n\nThe Future is Now.\u201d
— Lia Wong (@Lia Wong) 1664871123

A translation of the post in which the video first appeared on the Chinese micro-blog site Weibo said, "War dogs descending from the sky ... Red Wing forward heavy-duty drones deliver combat robot dogs, which can be directly inserted ... behind the enemy to launch a surprise attack."

The post also suggested that the UGV could "be placed on the rooftops and work with troops on the ground to ambush enemies inside buildings."

A longer version of the demonstration shows the Chinese UGV climbing stairs and performing simulated ground operations with human companions.

Kestrel Defense Blood-Wing | Military promotional video #3 youtu.be

The same Chinese defense firm also released a video revealing the doglike UGV's ability to carry a loitering munitions launcher.

\u201cChina\u2019s Kestrel Defense demonstrates a robo-dog that carries a loitering munitions launcher. Welcome to your next war tech... https://t.co/4FNUBqy2F2\u201d
— Samuel Bendett (@Samuel Bendett) 1661033547

Unmanned tanks

Armored UGVs are not unprecedented, but have historically been grossly ineffective.

Russia, for instance, deployed its semi-autonomous Uran-9 tanks in Syria in 2016, which proved to be more trouble than they were worth. The technology is, however, improving.

Janes reported that the Royal Netherlands Army became the first Western military to start operational trials with UGVs.

Lt. Col. Sjoerd Mevissen explained that the four Tracked Hybrid Modular Infantry Systems tanks that were deployed with the Netherlands' 13th Light Brigade to Lithuania last month "have been handed over for experimental use in an operational unit in a military-relevant environment."

"These are not simply tests on a training ground," said Mevissen. "We are under the direct eyes and ears of the Russians, and as such in a semi-operational environment.

The THeMIS tank's various capabilities are showcased in this video:

THeMIS UGV with the PROTECTOR RWS youtu.be

General Dynamics announced on Oct. 4 that it would be unveiling the AbramsX, a modified version of the Abrams battle tank. Although it will not be a fully unmanned vehicle, General Dynamics indicated that it will have a "reduced crew size and AI-enabled lethality, survivability, mobility, manned/unmanned teaming ... and autonomous capabilities."

Remote-controlled terrors

Killer drones have long been a feature of modern combat. Unmanned aerial vehicles have been on the scene since the 1990s. The Guardian reported that one of their first impactful deployments was in the 1999 Kosovo war, when they were used to identify hidden Serbian positions.

Slate reported that in January 2001, the U.S. armed a Predator drone for the first time, equipping it with a laser-seeker and a Hellfire air-to-ground missile. Several months later, after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, the U.S. recorded its first drone kill when, on Nov. 14, 2001, a Predator-launched Hellfire missile obliterated al Qaeda's Mohammed Atef and six of his terrorist allies.

Drones have been shown to be capable of hitting hard and airborne targets as well.

The first UAV air-to-air kill was recorded in 2017, when a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone shot down another with an infrared guided air-to-air missile, but by then drones were already ubiquitous.

This year, hundreds of lightweight U.S. Switchblades have been deployed in Ukraine, where they have been used to strike small targets.

This is the Power of the Switchblade Drone That Is So Scary! youtu.be

Janes indicated that by 2030, over 80,000 surveillance drones and nearly 2,000 attack drones will have been purchased. A 2019 estimate indicated that the biggest purchaser of combat drones over the next decade would be the United States, with over 1,000 prospective purchases. China was a distant second, looking to acquire only 68 drones.

With tensions rising between the U.S. and both China and Russia, as well as smaller international conflicts, those estimates may prove conservative.

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AOC slams NYPD's expenditure of $75,000 on a robotic dog as wasteful and possibly racist

AOC slams NYPD's expenditure of $75,000 on a robotic dog as wasteful and possibly racist



Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) slammed the New York Police Department for deploying its new robotic dog in the Bronx, suggesting that the $75,000 new crime-fighting tech is wasteful and its existence racist.

The democratic socialist "Squad" leader criticized the NYPD's "Digidog" after it was deployed to respond to a home invasion last week, saying that the resources spent to build the robot should have been allocated to serve other community needs.

"Shout out to everyone who fought against community advocates who demanded these resources go to investments like school counseling instead," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. "Now robotic surveillance ground drones are being deployed for testing on low-income communities of color with under-resourced schools."

Please ask yourself: when was the last time you saw next-generation, world class technology for education, healthca… https://t.co/A5I3nzcURD
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez)1614281834.0

According to the New York Post, the NYPD's "Digidog" is still in its test phase. The 70-pound robot is equipped with lights and cameras that allow the police to view "its surroundings in real-time." The robot also is equipped with two-way communication, can run up to 3.5 miles per hour, can see in the dark, and can climb stairs.

"Digidog" uses artificial intelligence to navigate and was designed to allow police to respond in emergency situations that are too dangerous for human officers.

"This dog is going to save lives, protect people, and protect officers and that's our goal," NYPD Technical Assistance Response Unit Inspector Frank Digiacomo said.

The Daily Mail reported that "Digidog" was deployed to a home invasion and barricade situation on East 227th Street near White Plains Road in Wakefield on Tuedsay.

Two men were reportedly being held hostage in a Bronx apartment. They had been threatened at gun point, tied up and tortured for hours by two male assailants who pretended to be plumbers to gain access to the home.

One of the victims managed to escape and called the police.

Digidog was deployed and helped officers determine that the armed suspects were no longer inside the home.

The police said they were still searching for the two men, who stole a cellphone and $2,000 in cash and used a hot iron to burn one of the victims.

Though the police are confident that the new technology can help save officer's lives in dangerous situations, Ocasio-Cortez believes money spent on crime fighting would be better reallocated for education or health care in "underserved communities."

"Please ask yourself: when was the last time you saw next-generation, world class technology for education, healthcare, housing, etc consistently prioritized for underserved communities like this?" she asked in a follow-up tweet.

More on NYPD's Digidog from WNYW: