As a species, we are understandably worried about robots, especially when we make robots that are more and more human. This robot, however, takes the cake: It’s not just a robot that can beat us at a simple game, it’s a robot that wins by being a complete cheating bastard.
Here’s how this robotic jerk operates: It watches you as you throw using a high-speed vision system. Think the slow-mo cameras you see in use all the time on Mythbusters, but connected to a processor. The robot can see what you’re about to throw as your hand moves, and can immediately offer the correct counter, making it unbeatable.
Leaving aside for a moment this robot would totally be denied any chance at shotgun, for all time, this is actually impressive in a few ways. As I’ve laid out before, robots are linear thinkers: They have to assess a situation, formulate a plan, and then act on that plan. In order for robots to be effective in quickly changing situations, like, say, rescuing Grandma from a burning building, they need to do this much, much faster than a typical human being would. After all, they’ve got no instincts to rely on. So this technology will likely wind up in more robots and make them better safety tools.
Just… let’s not develop a robot that cheats at the other kind of roshambo, OK? That’s really the only way this could get less fair.
(Via Kotaku)