Robotics

October 03, 2018 - 2:40 pm

Houston City Council moves to block robot brothel opening

HOUSTON (AP) — Houston's City Council has changed a city ordinance in a move that would essentially stop a so-called robot brothel from opening. A Canadian company had said it wants to open a "love dolls brothel" in Houston in which people would be able to use its human-like dolls on the premises...
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Peter Asaro, left, of the International Committee for Robot Arms Control, and Jody Williams of the Nobel Women's Initiative speak to reporters at a news conference in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, Aug. 27, 2018. Experts from scores of countries are meeting to discuss ways to define and deal with "killer robots", futuristic weapons systems that could conduct war without human intervention. (AP Photo/Jamey Keaten)
August 27, 2018 - 6:23 pm

Experts assemble for UN-hosted meeting on 'killer robots'

GENEVA (AP) — Experts from scores of countries are meeting to discuss ways to define and deal with "killer robots" — futuristic weapons systems that could conduct war without human intervention. The weeklong gathering that opened Monday is the second at U.N. offices in Geneva this year to focus on...
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ZTE's logo is seen in a telecommunication services shop in Beijing Wednesday, July 4, 2018. Tech giant ZTE Corp.’s near-death experience after Washington barred it from buying U.S. components was a stark reminder that China’s industry leaders cannot function without American technology. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
July 04, 2018 - 9:59 pm

China push to end reliance on US tech at trade fight's core

BEIJING (AP) — Fears that China is threatening U.S. leadership in robots, electric cars and other advanced technologies are pushing the world's two biggest economies toward a full-blown trade war as the two sides prepare to impose tariffs Friday on billions of dollars' worth of each other's...
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Noa Ovadia, left, and Dan Zafrir, right, prepare for their debate against the IBM Project Debater, Monday, June 18, 2018, in San Francisco. IBM on Monday will pit a computer against two human debaters in the first public demonstration of artificial intelligence technology it's been working on for more than five years. The system, called Project Debater, is designed to be able to listen to an argument, then respond in a natural-sounding way, after pulling in evidence it collects from Wikipedia, journals, newspapers and other sources to make its point. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
June 19, 2018 - 2:14 pm

IBM computer proves formidable against 2 human debaters

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — An argumentative computer proved formidable against two human debaters as IBM gave its first public demonstration of new artificial intelligence technology it's been working on for more than five years. The new skills show that computers are getting better at mastering human...
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Noa Ovadia, left, and Dan Zafrir, right, prepare for their debate against the IBM Project Debater, Monday, June 18, 2018, in San Francisco. IBM on Monday will pit a computer against two human debaters in the first public demonstration of artificial intelligence technology it's been working on for more than five years. The system, called Project Debater, is designed to be able to listen to an argument, then respond in a natural-sounding way, after pulling in evidence it collects from Wikipedia, journals, newspapers and other sources to make its point. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
June 18, 2018 - 11:39 pm

IBM pits computer against human debaters

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — IBM pitted a computer against two human debaters in the first public demonstration of artificial intelligence technology it's been working on for more than five years. The company unveiled its Project Debater in San Francisco on Monday, asking it to make a case for government-...
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FILE - In this July 20, 2017 file photo, Boston Dynamics Chief Executive Marc Raibert speaks about his four-legged robot SpotMini during a SoftBank World presentation at a hotel in Tokyo. The robotics company known for its widely shared YouTube videos of nimble, legged robots opening doors or walking through rough terrain is finally preparing to sell some of them after years of research. Raibert said Friday, May 11, 2018, his company will begin selling the dog-like SpotMini robot next year, likely to businesses for use as a camera-equipped security guard. He made the announcement at a TechCrunch robotics conference at University of California, Berkeley. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi, File)
May 11, 2018 - 10:06 pm

Walking robot maker prepares to unleash its dog-like machine

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — A robotics company known for its widely shared videos of nimble, legged robots opening doors or walking through rough terrain is preparing to sell some after more than a quarter century of research. Boston Dynamics CEO Marc Raibert said Friday that his company plans to begin...
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Marco Zambelli wears his prosthetic hand during an interview with the Associated Press in Rome Thursday, May 10, 2018. An Italian government-funded research institute and prosthetic maker unveiled a new robotic hand that they say amputees to grip objects with more precision, and with a mechanical design that will significantly bring down the price of a myoeletric prosthetic hand. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
May 10, 2018 - 2:07 pm

Italian researchers develop lighter, cheaper robotic hand

ROME (AP) — Italian researchers on Thursday unveiled a new robotic hand they say allows users to grip objects more naturally and featuring a design that will lower the price significantly. The Hennes robotic hand has a simpler mechanical design compared with other such myoelectric prosthetics,...
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Google CEO Sundar Pichai speaks at the Google I/O conference in Mountain View, Calif., Tuesday, May 8, 2018. Google put the spotlight on its artificial intelligence smarts at its annual developers conference Tuesday, where it announced new features and services imbued with machine learning. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
May 09, 2018 - 4:32 pm

What happens when the robots sound too much like humans?

Artificial intelligence has a new challenge: Whether and how to alert people who may not know they're talking to a robot. On Tuesday, Google showed off a computer assistant that makes convincingly human-sounding phone calls , at least in its prerecorded demonstration. But the real people in those...
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A worker lifts a lunch bowl off the production line at Spyce, a restaurant which uses a robotic cooking process, in Boston, Thursday, May 3, 2018. Robots can't yet bake a souffle or fold a burrito, but the new restaurant in Boston is employing what it calls a "never-before-seen robotic kitchen" to cook up ingredients and spout them into a bowl. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
May 03, 2018 - 3:31 pm

Robot fast-food chefs: Hype or a sign of industry change?

BOSTON (AP) — Robots can't yet bake a souffle or fold a burrito, but they can cook up vegetables and grains and spout them into a bowl — and are doing just that at a new fast casual restaurant in Boston. Seven autonomously swirling cooking pots — what the restaurant calls a "never-before-seen...
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Shimizu Corp.'s Robo-Welder is demonstrated during a press tour to the major Japanese construction company's robot laboratory in Tokyo, Monday, April 23, 2018. The Robo-Welder has a robotic arm that uses laser shape measurement to determine the contours of a groove, or channel, on a steel column to be welded. Shimizu showed several robots that can weld and bolt, being developed for construction sites for safety for workers. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
April 23, 2018 - 6:32 am

Construction robots weld, bolt, lift to beat worker shortage

TOKYO (AP) — Robots that can weld, lift and bolt are being developed to help bridge labor shortages at Japanese construction sites, though their use will be limited to night shifts when no human workers will be nearby due to safety and regulatory concerns. Major Japanese construction company...
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