Theres just one problem: The robots werent operating as autonomously as most people had initially assumed.
This is not wholly AI.
Optimus make me a drink, c’mon.
The robot floor cleaner of the future, photographed for the July 21, 1959 issue of Look magazine, which was actually controlled remotely by a man in the next room.Photo: Bob Lerner for Look magazine / Library of Congress collection
This is not wholly AI.
A human is remote assisting.
The big difference between Musk and Disney is that Disney wasnt trying to use tele-ops to trick anyone.
The entire purpose was to create a show, not unlike Musks goal Thursday night.
The billionaire did stage everything at a movie studio, after all.
reminds me of RCA-Whirlpools so-calledMiracle Kitchenfrom the late 1950s.
You may even remember learning about the kitchen debate between then-Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.
Yep, that was the kitchen.
The American National Exhibition had everything from a fashion show to films about life in the U.S.
But the Americans only said it was autonomous.
What you see coming out of the wall is a self-propelled floor cleaner.
Its completely self-contained and it can be directed to any part of the kitchen, the films host says.
This floor cleaner is operated by a self-charging battery.
It controls itself by sensing an electrical path in the floor, the host continues.
As it passes over the floor, it vacuums up loose particles.
And if the floor needs washing, the floor cleaner will wash it with a rotary brush scrubbing action.
It will follow up washing with a thorough rinsing.
In reality, the robot wasnt working independently at all.
And they radio-controlled the vacuum cleaner and the dishwasher.
Having someone just secretly sitting in the next room was much easier and less expensive than using advanced sensors.
It was simpler just to have a person operating that stuff remotely, said Maxwell.
That was for expediency more than it was for lack of technology.
Maxwell then paused to clarify.
But there was a lack of technology.
We did not have anything near what we have today.
We had computers, but they were big boxes.
But Musk often does this schtick of hyping up tech that doesnt exist yet.
Remember the hyper-fast Loop that Musk was going to bring to cities likeChicagoand Las Vegas?
It was supposed to feature autonomous 16-passenger vehicles gliding along at150 miles per hour.
The billionaire eventually delivered regular Teslas operated by human drivers going35 miles per hourin a tunnel under Las Vegas.
At least we can say Musks robots arentshouting slurs.
Well,not yet.
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