Fact 1: Combat robots already exist and are being developed in many countries around the world. Most of them are a kind of mini-tanks on tracks and wheels, carrying weapons and various equipment. Moreover, few of them are able to work autonomously, almost all models are still controlled by operators who are in a safe place.
Fact 2: In the future, robots will completely displace unskilled labor, leaving several billion people unemployed. But this will not happen soon, because in many countries even now it is cheaper to hire human workers than to buy modern equipment and automate production. In addition, the development of robotics will create many new jobs in its maintenance, development, repair and programming.
Fact 3: The word “robot” itself was first used in a play by Karel and Josef Čapekov, published in 1920. Interestingly, the plot of the play is about how robots first work for their creators and then rise up and destroy them. It’s not the most unrealistic scenario, even famous scientist Stephen Hawking said that out of control artificial intelligence is one of the most likely scenarios for the potential end of humanity.
Fact 4: Robots were conceived by Leonardo da Vinci, his drawing made around 1495 came down to us. It is a scheme of a humanoid robot knight, able to move his head and arms, as well as to do some other things. Also popular during the Renaissance were automatons, “clockwork robots” shaped like humans and sometimes capable of quite complicated actions.
Fact 5: Humanoid robots are usually called androids, and nowadays there are about a dozen models that are more or less human-like and have a semblance of artificial intelligence. Android models with a distinctly feminine appearance are called gynoids, although the word is rarely used in Russian.
Fact 6: Industrial, rescue and other robots could take on various jobs involving significant harm or health risks. But the cost of such machines is very high, and in today’s world it is more economical to send a squad of well-equipped rescuers to a dangerous place than to risk one robot worth millions of dollars. Human lives cost less.
Fact 7: You can own a simple robot now for a very modest sum. Many online stores sell robot vacuum cleaners that dust the house on their own, and generally act autonomously, although the dust must be shaken out of them regularly. They know how to memorize the layout of the room and avoid obstacles in their path.
Fact 8: Walking robots are being developed for both military and civilian applications. There are already working prototypes of transport robots in the form of, for example, giant spiders, which due to the presence of their eight long limbs are able to walk on absolutely any terrain. A person who drives such a machine sits in the upper part of it, in the cabin.
Fact 9. The problem of potential danger from robots exists. The famous writer Isaac Asimov formulated three laws of robotics, the inclusion of which in the firmware of robots should eliminate the possibility of them hurting people. All three laws are as follows: a robot must not harm a human, it cannot allow its inaction to cause such harm to a human if it does not contradict the first law, and it must also always protect itself if it does not contradict the first two laws.
Fact 10: Boston Dynamics, an American company known for its robot dogs, has developed many other models as well, including the humanoid Atlas. This robot, comparable in size and shape to an adult human, is capable of moving on rough terrain, jumping, overcoming various obstacles, and carrying loads in its hands.