This is the official technology community of Lemmy.ml for all news related to creation and use of technology, and to facilitate civil, meaningful discussion around it.
Ask in DM before posting product reviews or ads. All such posts otherwise are subject to removal.
Rules:
1: All Lemmy rules apply
2: Do not post low effort posts
3: NEVER post naziped*gore stuff
4: Always post article URLs or their archived version URLs as sources, NOT screenshots. Help the blind users.
5: personal rants of Big Tech CEOs like Elon Musk are unwelcome (does not include posts about their companies affecting wide range of people)
6: no advertisement posts unless verified as legitimate and non-exploitative/non-consumerist
7: crypto related posts, unless essential, are disallowed
(if the video player doesn't work)
One last example :
Of course, any author of science-fiction warned about robots rebelling against their creators, right now LLMs have zero memory but it seems impossible to prevent a random engineer in hΒ·erΒ·is basement to create a rogue a.i., good luck to us
The only thing it does (it what seems the least promotional of those video) is flipping box so the label show, we have already machine that do that way more efficiently
Sure we have specialized machines but the sorting machine can't be reassigned to start packing outbound or unloading trucks as demand changes. The value is that sorting wouldn't be the only thing it does.
These videos are to showcase the endurance of the design not the task.
that's only a good thing if we manage to end capitalism before this goes mainstream.
imagine being tossed by the owner class (even more)
A poor person from the third world controling it remotely. It cost too much eventualy they will give up on this nonsense... I mean whos gonna buy anything in the future after the next crash that will wipe out all people savings and create mass firings.
but can it give me a sad handy?
I think it should be below the ant
This chart is dope
Bots together strong.
They're not taking jobs. They're helping you do you job for you.
If robots in the future actually become useful it could be more revolutionary than people think. We are far away from this scenario, as it requires something truly exceptional, it is still interesting to imagine.
The better it gets the less stuff we need at home.
It would potentially remove the need for:
Yes, we will not have any of this in my lifetime probably, but this is what the future might look like.
It is important to note that the robot will work maybe 24/7 with hot swappable batteries. Speed is not important. Most of my examples were just from stuff in my immediate vicinity.
Not the best example. Improvement is not necessarily the point either, as long as it is good enough or equal. There might be other techniques that are closer or equal in efficacy when time is no issue, but I do not know of any. Anyways, people might prefer handwashed clothes for longevity. Also water usage is not really a problem in countries like Norway. We have infinite amounts due to our climate. Energy on the other hand might be a bigger issue. Soaking dishes and then washing by hand in soap, cold water and removing dirt through scrubbing, might be a good enough replacement. Would certainly prevent some dishes from not be entirely clean after the dishwasher.
Pet feeder: I want to spend more time with my pets doing other things, walks, play, snuggle etc. feeding is not one of those things. Except for treats, leftovers etc. It also makes it a bit easier to pay attention to how much they eat. Keeping them at a healthy weight is easier.
Door: When I am getting closer to home it can open the door for me. I can just walk directly i, and not having to wait.
Vacuum: Why would it be better? The robot can move everything. It is also able to dust before vacuuming.
Toaster: Frying pan
Fan: Using a manual old time flat fan, slaves did work like this for royalty before. Not really a good replacement for something as cheap a fan though. Advantage is that it can follow you around, but this was just a bad example.
I have not heard of Professor Layton, please elaborate. The point is that it can organize the fridge in a more space efficient manner. Work that humans rarely care to do. Same goes for fetching items.
More examples: Replacing standalone automatic timers for electric devices (Hairdryers, Curling irons)
Bottle, pacifier etc. sterilizer (bottles for infants) -> Boiling
Wake-on-Lan π
Washing: I'll concede that one. But I'm not completely sold.
Door: a lot of newly made vehicles already have automatic doors that unlock when you get close. You can already build an automatic lock if you want to, it's not even that expensive.
Vacuum: having a big ass humanoid robot walk around with a vacuum is ridiculous when you can just put wheels on the vacuum and let it walk itself around. The humanoid robot can move stuff, it's true, but you can just put an arm on the robot vacuum.
Toaster: dude, you just complained about the energy efficiency of a washing machine, and now you want to toast bread on a stove? That's ridiculous, just give it up.
Fan: I'm starting to think you just want the "thrill" of owning a slave
Fridge: Professor Layton is a game about a professor that solves mysteries and puzzles. Try it, it's fun. 90% of people who played it as a child have shown improved mathematical and logical thinking, and packing skills (it's not true, I made it up).
Wake on Lan already works. You just don't know how to configure dnat.
The point is not that it is superior in all ways, it is that one thing can accomplish many.
Door, can be solved with other means, however the specialized solution only solves one specific issue. If the robot is not reliable enpugh, then it is not good enough to replace this.
Yes, wheels is superior to legs. So a specialized vacuum is better than a generic robot using an ok vacuum. However then we need an additional device.
Toaster, power difference is not that big, and the toaster often have one empty slot. It does not use remotely as much power as heating the water in a washing machine / dishwasher.
Fan: Haha, not really. It has been incredibly hot the last couple of days and I just saw the big ass fan I have, and though of robot solutions
Layton: I will check it out
WoL does work, it is however easier to just let a machine do it, than to set it up
It'd change a lot about class conflict, perhaps even end the need for it.
Also i don't see why you're hesitating, they're already replacing jobs since the industrial revolution, my grandfather has been using a mowing robot for years now, my parents use one to clean the floor and their swimming pool, as well as to monitor their house. It won't take many years before getting one to clean the windows as well.
Service robots for consumer use have experienced a solid growth rate of 11% with close to 20 million units sold in 2024 (source)
Amazon has deployed its one millionth robot last year, they move shelves, sort parcels, bring products to humans, operate forklifts, ...
You probably already heard about China's "dark factories", which don't even need any human assistance or supervision.
Robots are already replacing taxi&truck drivers. In agriculture as well they're beginning to drive tractors, are already milking cows, and are more&more distributing animal feed, cleaning some livestock buildings, spraying crops, destroying weeds(, with lasers), ...
They're also involved in mining, digging trenches autonomously, etc. It's in China that the worldβs first fully unmanned paving construction was built two years ago, an highway of more than 150km !
There are also automative toll booth, welding robots, ...
If you were more specifically thinking of these multi-tasking androids depicted by sci-fi authors, that could just as well drive a car, mine, build a structure, or wash your dishes, then my opinion is that their humanoid precursors will be as numerous before 2035 as the current number of robotaxis, and be more widespread in 2050, including in homes.
On humanoid androids :
the Figure 02 robot supported the production of more than 30,000 BMW X3 vehicles over ten months (source from 2026)
Or here :
Digit, our general-purpose humanoid, has moved over 100,000 totes at GXOβs Flowery Branch facility (source from 2025)
Who knows π€·
It won't end class conflict. That is not have capitalism works unfortunately.
Exploiting human workers is much more problematic than exploiting robots. In a post-scarcity society everyone would have access to healthcare, food, housing, energy, and any goods and services.
Robots will make robots, and raw materials will be automatically mined until taken from asteroids.
However i agree that ideally these robots should be collectively owned, or equally alloted so that individuals loan them to companies, with a public control ensuring that the equilibrium is maintained.
There should also be a prevention over the influence of the wealthy in politics, otherwise they'll find out a way to have more at the detriment of everyone else in their selfish race to be the number one(, e.g. artificial scarcity, planned obsolescence, oligopolies, influence in politics, ...)
In short, i guess what i meant was to point at the elimination of poverty. However, i agree with you that we'll still need political institutions protecting us from the selfishness of the wealthy, otherwise there could be an increasingly inequal share of the 'surplus obtained from'/'exploitation of' these robots between the wealthy and the poor.