ROBOTS (this should make us all very worried)

[Mike Gorman]

Who can forget the guard robot dogs of the dystopian "Black Mirror" who punish intruders with deadly force (blasting off the head) - Black Mirror is probably too close to our bone.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=BDP9jA6k_UE

[Inversion]

The Swiss makers of this robot believe a majority of communication happens through nonverbal cues.

gizmodo

Sci-fi authors and AI researchers have dreamed for decades of a day when interacting with humanoid robots will feel natural, perhaps even indistinguishable from chatting with another flesh-and-blood human being. And although we now have access to chatbots that routinely trick people into believing that they’re conscious beings, we still seem to be a long, long way away from living amongst embodied, truly humanlike robots.

At the United Nations’ AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva this week, visitors could meet and mingle with Robert the Robot, a six-foot-something Tesla Optimus lookalike wearing a suit and tie, whose digital screen-for-a-face would alternate with images of Trump, Obama, and Mark Zuckerberg. Robert (not to be confused with Robby the Robot, the iconic character from the 1956 film Forbidden Planet) was built by a Swiss robotics firm called RB Labs, and designed to mimic the subtleties of nonverbal facial cues that make up every human-to-human interaction—even if we’re not consciously aware of them.

“In the future, we think it will be important to communicate with a robot and for humans to receive information from its expressions, like seeing a smile to know if it’s happy or not,” RL Labs cofounder Robin Kranbroekers told Reuters in recorded interview, while in the background, Robert, seen wearing a digital mask of Trump’s visage like Leatherface, stared blankly at some point just off-camera. “So if I make [Robert the Robot] do something silly right now, I don’t think people will mistake him for the real Donald Trump. I don’t believe we’re falling into that uncanny valley trap.”

07/09/26 (0:56)

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=JP7_g2rJBu8

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

I don't really have words for this. I don't know if it's funny, or weird, or impressive, or disturbing -- it just is what it is, see for yourself.

Edit: that one robot lost its head isn't what I mean, it's that we now have combat robots doing battle with each other. It's like something straight out of the Terminator

https://x.com/TansuYegen/status/2078008582302273641
@TansuYegen
Robot lost its head mid-fight and kept swinging anyway 😂

[Vicus]

Gladiators...

Still fun...circus again but this time without bred...

Do you remember internet begins? ALL free! then came smart phones... and today you cant go anywhere without been located/target...or your car stop suddenly...or you fridge /Alexa/Siri/sound alarm...

Its just a question of time until "law" enforcement of any kind knock on your door for whatever "wrong"doing and you will face a tin can "face"...supported by drones from above...any false move and you get a broken limb at least...

NOW is time to develop any kind of defense against "tin cans", kinetic/electronic/whatever...plasma weapons? that will be superb!

That isn't science fiction anymore, they are already here! just waiting for commands...

[Inversion]

Posted by Mark (Star Mariner) (here)
I don't really have words for this. I don't know if it's funny, or weird, or impressive, or disturbing -- it just is what it is, see for yourself.

Edit: that one robot lost its head isn't what I mean, it's that we now have combat robots doing battle with each other. It's like something straight out of the Terminator

One must stop and ponder if that was racially motivated. Was it a robot hate crime? At 1:17 into the video clip from the 1991 movie Terminator 2: Judgment Day it shows the T-1000 manifesting on Mosaic Pavement.

Google AI

The Masonic checkered floor, known as the Mosaic Pavement, represents the dualities of human existence, such as good and evil, joy and sorrow, and light and darkness. It is a visual reminder that life is a balance of opposing forces and that members are meant to navigate these contrasts with wisdom and moral equilibrium.

03/18/20 (4:18)

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=fWk7d1STpGo

07/10/08 (4:03) The episode orginally aired on 01/10/69. Frank Gorshin was also in 12 Monkeys.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=vi7QQ5pO7_A

Google AI

The premise of "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" is an allegorical exploration of the absurdity and destructiveness of racism. It features two alien survivors from the planet Cheron, Lokai and Bele, whose people have been at war for 50,000 years. Both are exactly half-black and half-white, but on opposing sides. Despite the Enterprise crew’s attempts to show them the futility of their hatred, their bigotry is so entrenched that they ultimately destroy their own civilization and each other.

The episode highlights how hatred based entirely on physical appearance blinds people to logic and mutual destruction. Bele (played by Frank Gorshin) represents oppressive authority, while Lokai (played by Lou Antonio) represents a persecuted, rebellious class. When the crew of the Enterprise (led by Captain Kirk) attempts to mediate and promote peace, the two aliens refuse to reconcile. They are completely consumed by their prejudice.

Ultimately, upon returning to their home planet of Cheron at the end of the episode, they find that their mutual hatred and continuous war have completely wiped out their civilization. Lokai and Bele then resume their chase on the dead, burning planet.