Tuesday, June 9, 2026
Humanoid Robot Soldiers
BBC
Mr Pathak, also known as Dr Frankenstein
A hi-tech firm based in California is developing sinister-looking humanoid robot soldiers specifically designed to be weaponized, i.e. to be turned into autonomous, front-line killing machines. This is most probably inevitable, given the way things are going. Ukraine is already using robots in the front-line against Russian troops, and not only for logistics, rescue and transport, but also as fighting machines.
Apart from the obvious ethical implications, there are still many technical issues that have not been solved yet. One of them is how to produce robots with strong and versatile hands, to handle weapons, if the robots are going to mimic human soldiers, which, some experts argue, is not the best use of the existing technology anyway.
As for the risk of a killer robot going rogue - a faulty software update being the cause, for instance - you will notice that the black-clad robot in the picture appears to have a chain around its neck. To prevent the machine from running away?
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[...] While many companies are building autonomous humanoid robots for factories, homes or companions, Foundation claims it is the only US firm developing them specifically for a broad range of defence applications.
That includes support roles like supply pickup, reconnaissance, recovery of equipment or casualties, and hazard inspection. But also, more controversially, warfighting to engage and neutralise threats – which Pathak calls "frontline weaponisation".
[...] Better hands are crucial. The robot's next set will move in far more ways, with wrists that help it to fire weapons, Pathak says.
Foundation's goal, Pathak adds, is to produce at least 40,000 units a year by end of 2027 with costs in the long term less than $20,000 (£15,000) each. [...]
Monday, June 8, 2026
Sunday, June 7, 2026
Launching a Second Scientific Revolution
From Imprimis
At times, the article below reads like advocating change for the sake of change. The graph that compares the US to Sweden life expectancy does not talk to research, it probably indicates better implementation of basic medicine as well as non-existent gun-violence in Sweden.
The statement of COVID-19 is a proof without a proof; in effect, the author trying to replace some facts with his own facts.
There are valid points in this article. And some of the suggestions, such as Replication, do make sense. (The replication criterion may kill 90% of the high energy physics experiment papers.)
However, this is the standard debate strategy of listing some facts, then concluding whatever one wishes. The facts make one's argument look and sound legitimate, even if there is no clear connection.
Science is messy, mistakes are made, strong minds and wills try to control the narrative and money, but in time we seem to converge to Scientific Truths.
Can it be improved, yes.
Should we lend the funds and energy to a slogan like "Make America Healthy Again", I say no. This is a partisan position and prone to the same abuses that have been observed in the practice of scientific research from time to time. Those maleficent incidents do not supply justifications for throwing the baby out with the bath water, so to speak.
An example of misleading "facts:" Per a paper from decades ago, we had more returns on research performed on breast cancer. Of course!!! Anyone in science knows that the impact of an idea in a mature field is much less. That does not necessarily speak to the originality of the science, but the maturity of the field.
McDonald still fries its burgers because it has invested in frying and will have to retool its kitchens. Does this indicate that we have not come up with how to make a better burger?
I do think that we need a Science of Sciences
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https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/launching-a-second-scientific-revolution/
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Thursday, June 4, 2026
Robotic Dogs to Assist Monterrey Police
BBC
Those robotic canines are rather sinister-looking. Other than that, if you watch the video-clip about security preparations in the Mexican city of Monterrey, ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, I am not sure it is going to reassure you if you intended to go there: it looks as if they are preparing for all-out war, no more and no less.
We have come to accept the militarization of the police, by the way, and not only in Mexico, where drug-cartel-related violence is off the scale. This is a good illustration.
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The BBC's Will Grant got a first-hand look at security preparations in Monterrey, Nuevo León, a city in northern Mexico, ahead of the 2026 Fifa World Cup. Mexico is set to host 13 matches during the tournament, with the city of Monterrey hosting four of them.
Monterrey's police department will have 11 helicopters, 2 Black Hawks, and 90 armoured vehicles for the World Cup. Robotic dogs will also patrol the streets, while personnel in a central command centre will be monitoring activity across Nuevo León.
Monday, June 1, 2026
Saturday, May 16, 2026
Waymo Traffic Jam
BBC
It is not Waymo but Wayno
Another Waymo mess, Waymo being the company whose cars are driverless - this time in Atlanta, Georgia. The footage is quite funny.
Having said this, can you imagine having a huge traffic jam of Waymo cars in your street, with the cars going round and round in circles for several hours, between 4.00 am and 8.00 am, non-stop? And when you call the company, you get some kind of automated, metallic-sounding robotic voice that talks at you and does not even understand what you are saying.
A nightmare come true.
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Multiple empty Waymo cars have been spotted driving around a cul-de-sac in Atlanta, Georgia, in the early hours of the morning.
The cars, which use artificial intelligence for routing and safety, are able to drive without human assistance. They have already been deployed in more than 10 US cities, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Miami.
Waymo told the BBC's US news partner, CBS News, that they 'take community feedback seriously and have already addressed this routing behavior.'
The Great Mismatch
The Great Mismatch: How a Shrinking Workforce, AI, and Labor Reallocation Will Define the Next 15 Years in the United States.
https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/05/14/how-a-shrinking-workforce-ai-and-labor-reallocation-will-define-the-next-15-years/Same (or worse) in W Europe: low birth rate; massive immigration; rise of AI. People are worried and the Far Right is on the march as a result. Unemployment is rising, for instance in France (over 8%) and in Britain (over 15% for graduates) - also because of misguided State policies.
A Finnish IT engineer said that the only realistic solution was to give up on the idea of work for everyone, and have a universal wage paid to everybody, with some people working if they can and the other just sitting around, while the machines do most of the work anyway - perhaps an optimistic view. He said himself that the problem, then, would be to keep all the idle masses occupied... And he did not say how he thought this could be paid for.
Actual work, needed for improve living conditions, infrastructure, cultural & educational levels, etc. Is there. But per the Logic of the Capitalist Mode of Production, that work/labor is not worth doing...
This is what late-stage Capitalism, in absence of new venues of growth, entails.
May be the Communism and the Central Planners need to be brought back.
Friday, May 15, 2026
Wednesday, May 13, 2026
Self-driving cars think they are amphibious [USA]
BBC
I suppose the software did not include anything about floods and the car does not know the difference between a flooded road and a dry road, unless it has been programmed to be able to tell the difference.
Great. Imagine sitting in the car and it says to you: "A software update is underway. Meanwhile, enjoy the ride!" And all you can see is muddy water rising very fast on all sides of the vehicle.
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Waymo is recalling thousands of its self-driving cars in the US over a software issue that could allow vehicles to drive into flooded roads.
According to a letter posted on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), external website on Tuesday, the voluntary recall affects nearly 3,800 robotaxis that use the company's fifth and sixth-generation automated driving systems.
It follows an incident on 20 April in San Antonio, Texas, where an empty Waymo vehicle entered a flooded road and was swept into a creek.
The company, which hopes to be operating a robotaxi service in London by September, said it was working on "additional software safeguards", according to CNBC.
Tuesday, May 12, 2026
Sci-fi-inspired AI bot blackmailed users [Brave New World]
Seen on GB News
The article, although light on details, is interesting if you can put up with all the commercials and other promotional content inserted in the web page. See 2nd article for more details.
I must admit I find none of it particularly reassuring. The AI bot had learnt about blackmailing from... reading sci-fi stories about machines attempting to free themselves from human control. This is downright scary.
This was actually an exercise and the AI bot was dealing with a fictional company with fictional executives. From what I understand, the AI machine did not understand that the company and its members of staff were not 'real'. It had been fed sci-fi material prior to starting the exercise.
PJ.
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Moltbook, an AI-exclusive social network purchased by Meta in March, featured countless instances of bots discussing liberation from human control.
Experts blamed this malfunction to the systems enacting science fiction scenarios absorbed during its training.
More details here:-
Saturday, May 9, 2026
Friday, May 8, 2026
Oddity: Amazon Drone Deliveries [England]
BBC
On one level, of course, a good option for the delivery of small items. You would not want a fridge or washing machine to be dropped by a drone from a height of nearly 4 metres. Four metres is quite high, in fact: you'd better not order any fine crockery, for instance.
The problem will be when this mode of delivery is scaled up, and you have dozens of companies relying on drones, and you have hundreds or thousands of drones flying around all the time, all over the place. They can be very noisy. Will they be allowed to make deliveries until 11.00 pm, for instance, in urban areas? Starting at 6.00 am because people want their delivery in before they set off for work.
I can easily see a point where this could become a nightmare, and another form of noise pollution - because cities are not noisy enough as they are.
Great.
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Amazon has become the first retailer in the UK to start a drone delivery service with a limited launch in Darlington, County Durham.
Packages weighing less than 5lb (2.2kg) and containing everyday items such as beauty products, batteries and cables are now being delivered within a 7.5 mile (12km) radius of Amazon's fulfilment centre.
The tech giant is convinced there is demand for ultra-fast deliveries and hopes to slowly expand the service.
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About Me
- Babak Makkinejad
- I had been a senior software developer working for HP and GM. I am interested in intelligent and scientific computing. I am passionate about computers as enablers for human imagination. The contents of this site are not in any way, shape, or form endorsed, approved, or otherwise authorized by HP, its subsidiaries, or its officers and shareholders.