My wife thought it was creepy as do a lot of people (google "uncanny valley"). I think it's neat but this will absolutely be used as a weapon, even a terrorist weapon at some point. I guess Boston Dynamics has you sign a waiver promising not to use this thing to do harm (seems pointless though).
But I feel it's probably the most advanced robot in the world now... when it stands in a prone position, it looks like a real animal, balancing and constantly making calculations on how to stay upright... like a real dog would or like a human does subconsciously.
It's interesting to say the least.
@Weird Tolkienish Figure I find it interesting too - In it's current capacity, or even with some sort of rudimentary AI toward navigation autonomy and decision-making... In that much capacity, it is still a machine, and a wonderment... A fun and potentially useful piece of tech...
But as we both know, it won't stay at that level. 'They' won't let it.
And I will mess with it up to a point.. like I do with AI, trying to get near the bleeding edge. There is a place for that which is useful, even if it's mostly stupid pet tricks. Google as an instance. I use the heck out of Google.
I will say that if Giggles (Assistant) is an example of AI, there is a very, very long way to go. But I use it. Giggles keeps track of all my appointments, reminds me to do things sometimes - just enough times to make it seem short of reliable... I have set up routines... When I wake, and when I go out, and I am even exploring smart home stuff as it is safe to do...I don't care if some super computer somewhere has control of my porch light (actually a different porch light), So as part of my 'I'm Home' routine, if it happens to be dark, Giggles will turn on that porch light. Kewl.
I am even writing my own, for kicks... As part of my wake up routine, Giggles sends a magic packet to my main server waking it up, and telling it (though an internal routine) to wake up the whole network... All of my sleeping system comes to life 3 1/2 minutes after I say 'Good morning Giggles' - Which also reads my agenda to me, tells me about my day, tells me the weather, and then plays the latest Fox News report. Fun. Useful. No, not really. All just stupid pet tricks. I could literally do all that myself in almost the same amount of time.
Cortana is another thing. Ever try leaving the mike on in your PC? Howabout in 7 machines? Say 'cortana' and they all respond! What a headache that is. And all the things you would want it to actually DO, it can't do. "Hey cortana... copy this folder (file explorer window in focus) to the thumb drive in 'Plato' (a computer name)" Nope. Won't happen.
AI loses all it's usefulness on a local LAN, which is exactly the opposite of what you would think. you would think it the most powerful in a localized network. No, what makes it useful is when it is on the fly.
I see Robotics in much the same way... Right now, there's things I would like to do to turn my truck into a robot. It already knows it is HOME, and will back up to the house network before shutting down... I WANT a backup cam... I want proximity sensors, and load sensors would be awesome on the bed. Nav is awesome, and a real interaction with Giggles would be great. All super fun and barely useful.
At this stage, in exploration, it's a lot of fun to dick with. And I HAVE to, to be able to understand it when it gets serious enough to be dangerous. But even as it all is now, look at the danger. You are literally tracked, everywhere you go. and that little bit of use is paid for in grievous destruction of privacy - Even as it is now.
And therein lies the problem. In the big picture, it always seems to be the surrender of liberty and privacy - and way more than it is worth.
