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R2-D2 on Patrol? Using Fiction to Define the K5 Security Robot

By Karen Asp What is the K5 “autonomous data robot”? This seems to be the underlying question in various news reports covering the recent commercial launch of Silicon Valley-based Knightscope’s new security technology. And it is quickly followed by more questions that in essence ask, what does it mean for us? Does it mean that […]

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Companion Species Manifesto 2.0: Jibo the Family Robot

By Karen Asp As the video that accompanied the July 2014 launch of the Jibo crowdsourcing campaign shows, Jibo is a personal robot designed to convincingly interact in conversations, as well as perform organizational, cognitive and educational tasks such as conducting internet searches on command and telling children’s stories. From the various interviews that Jibo’s

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Humans Need Not Apply: Will Better Tech Make More, Better Jobs?

— Documentary video, with summary by Karen Asp CPG Grey recently uploaded “Humans Need Not Apply,” a compelling documentary video on the breadth, depth and implications of contemporary workplace automation through developments in AI and robotics. The narrator makes the point that if the history of automation primarily concerned the transformation of physical labour through

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More on Why Science Needs Fiction

By Teresa Heffernan The Singularity University, founded by Peter Diamandis and Ray Kurzweil and located in Silicon Valley, brands itself as about “Science. Technology. The Future of Humanity.” This for-profit uncredited institution offers opportunities such as: 7-day workshops for executives and entrepreneurs (US $12,000); a 10-week Graduate Studies Program (US $29,500); and events like the

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