TheBolt

Robots: sci-fi mythic creations in the 50’s have all but stayed science fiction.  As technology progresses, so do the capabilities of robots.  We have those little feeling-less machines take out our garbage, clean and scrub our floors, park our cars, beat us at Jeopardy and now, become unbeatable at “rock, paper, scissors”.  At least that’s what our eyes think.

Japanese designers have created a robotic hand that analyzes your result in a “rock, paper, scissor” game faster than the eye can see, thus always beating you.  Professor Masatoshi Ishikawa says  the robot can process 1,000 frames per second, while the human eye can only process 30, at most.  This has nothing to do with prediction,” Ishikawa said. “The robot is playing the exact same game, but it can move 33 times faster than humans. There’s no way to win.”

“There’s no way to win?”  That sounds like the anthem robots will be digitally shouting as they attempt to lay waste to our cities and take over humanity.  Until that time comes, smile as you will always lose a game of rock paper scissors to a robot, and start being a littler nicer to your Roomba.

I’m watching you…

In case you haven’t heard it yet, robots will soon take over the world.  Well, not yet that is.  Recently the IBM created super computer, Watson, trumped two other contestants Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter during a game of Jeopardy on TV.  In a full-fledged Jeopardy game, each contestant including the super computer, followed the exact Jeopardy rules: choose a category, buzz in when you know it and answer in the form of a question.  While Jennings and Rutter did find themselves quicker than the computer several times, overall Watson demolished its human counterparts in speed and knowledge.

Jenning’s last attempt at keeping his human head above the proverbial water was never more evident than during the Final Jeopardy Round.  His final answer was correct, however his wager was nowhere near what Watson’s total amount was.  After showing the world his correct answer, Jennings wrote  underneath it, “I for one welcome our computer overlords”.  What a relief.  So, that’s it Jennings, you can be our ambassador when the time of robo ruling comes.  Hopefully the robots are not  like Yul Brynner from the 1973 movie, “Westworld“.  If so, I’m moving to the moon…