Currently there is a lot of news and research about AI. AI is already in use in many different cases, like Siri from Apple and Alexa from Amazon. AI does not have to function only from mobile phones or cylindrical devices. It can flourish as robots. Robots are already seen in many movies. From the Terminator to television shows like Westworld, where there is a park filled with robots and humans can live out their fantasies. This world might actually be closer than we think now that there has been a new breakthrough.
The breakthrough is related to the muscles that robots use to move. These muscles work through changing form by external stimuli, mimicking real muscles by contracting and extending. To better understand the extent of the breakthrough I first tell you a little bit about the history of synthetic muscles. There were two types of muscles used in robots: pneumatic artificial muscles, and electro active polymers (Walter, 2016). Pneumatic artificial muscles are operated by blowing pressurised air into a bladder, contracting and extending as necessary. The electro active polymers on the other hand change in shape and size when stimulated by an electric field. The problem with the former artificial muscle is that it requires a compressor, limiting it to a practical size (Irving, 2017). With the latter the problem is that it requires a power output (Walter, 2016).
The new muscle that researchers from Columbia University have developed is able to function untethered, without the need of a compressor or high voltage equipment (Columbia engineering, 2017). Not only that, the new muscle is also able to be 3D printed. Furthermore, the muscle is three times stronger than natural muscle (Columbia Engineering, 2017). These muscles are perfect for soft material robotics. Robots that have a little more finesse and can grip soft objects like an egg (Jones, 2017). The researchers say that there is, however, one last milestone before replicating natural motion: involving AI to learn to control the muscle (Columbia engineering, 2017).
To conclude, the new breakthrough brings us closer to a different world. These soft robots can disrupt many different industries, from entertainment to healthcare. They can become a part of our everyday life. Until that day is here, I will continue watching the different shows and movies that feature them and fantasize about a world that just got a little bit closer to us.
References
Columbia Engineering. (2017, September 19). One step closer to lifelike robots. Retrieved from Engineering Columbia: http://engineering.columbia.edu/news/hod-lipson-lifelike-robots
Jones, B. (2017, September 19). New synthetic muscle puts us one step closer to lifelike robots. Retrieved from Futurism: https://futurism.com/new-synthetic-muscle-puts-us-one-step-closer-to-lifelike-robots/
Walter, M. (2016, June 6). Artificial muscles to bring relief to robotic tenseness. Retrieved from Hackaday: https://hackaday.com/2016/06/06/artificial-muscles-to-bring-relief-to-robotic-tenseness/
Interesting blog, Menno. I, too, like the idea of having advanced robots around us like they are portrayed in tv-shows like Westworld. However, a lot of the times they pose a lot of danger to humans. John Giannandrea, who leads AI at Google, also indicated that he is concerned about the machine learning algorithms that are used to make every decision, because we people could give these systems biased data. One mistake in the training data could have serious consequences in certain areas like healthcare or anything to do with the law. Accurately examining the input data and making it transparent might become really important to avoid accidents.
Great post Menno! I think this is going to be one of the most fascinating—and perhaps a little scary— transformations we’re going to witness in our lifetimes. Similar to Joshua’s comment, I am a little concerned about this future of AI, cognitive fully-autonomous robots (and computers). Of course, we see all the sci-fi movies out there where the robots come to life and take over humanity, and we just dismiss it as the usual Hollywood drama. But the likes of John Giannandrea (Google), Stephen Hawking, Bill Gates, and Ellon Musk all agree that we will see such type of autonomous, cognitive AI become a reality within the next 50 years or so (there is a lot of disagreement as to the time frame, but good consensus that it will happen). Without getting too apocalyptically, my fear is that in the race to finally achieve true AI (that is…not just to listen to commands or learn specific tasks, but a genuine AI which can learn and grow unbounded), that we will make mistakes and end up with an out of control system.
It again sounds like some far-fetched made-for-Hollywood idea, but in reality it is highly possible. Eventually, someone will achieve true AI. It could be under highly controlled settings in a Google lab, but it could also be some rogue underground computer genius in a basement somewhere. In either scenario, how to we compete with such a true AI once it has been created? I once read an interesting article (sadly I can’t find the article anymore…if I do I’ll post it later) about this very idea. Basically, if you imagine intelligence as a staircase, you’d have humans on the top step. One step below, highly intelligent animals such as dolphins, chimps, etc. And one step below them dogs, and then another step below insects, and so on. So if you think about it in that way, a human and an ant are separated by just 4 or 5 steps on the staircase. Well this article posited that, the moment true AI was achieved, it would leap 1,000 steps up the staircase. Then the next day, one million steps.
This is just to illustrate how intelligent the machine could become in comparison to humans. And if that’s the case, how do we control it? How do we stop it? How do we make sure it does good for the world? What if there is one faulty line of code (I dare you to find a single computer system in the world that was created perfectly, bug-free from the get-go)?
Again, this is an extreme example and we don’t know what the future will hold. One thing that is 100% certain…it is going to be a very interesting future we will be a part of.
Let me know your thoughts!