July 23

Movement across a variety of surfaces is critical for a construction site, ok maybe it doesn’t need to walk on water but us humans take for granted the challenges surface variety can cause for a machine. Sand, gravel, mud, stairs, rubble, all have different requirements for how to navigate them safely if you are a robot. Here is a unique look at one form of movement rarely seen in robotics. It seems to emulate a sea creature or microfauna. Perhaps other robotics in the future will mimic microfauna as well.

The goal is for robots to take ALL the jobs we don’t want to do. This will unlock unprecedented abundance. With this objective it would be irresponsible not to consider what humans will do? Well in a world of abundance, shelter, food, and energy are everywhere and available for everyone. I believe in hard work and merit, the worst thing would be if programs like this extinguished the human spirit making us lumpy blobs from Wall-e but if robots are doing all the jobs there must be a plan for humans too.

Here is a fascinating study by open research organized in a far more approachable manner than most research papers you see in respected journals. They gave people in the study a UBI (universal basic income) and measured how they reacted in categories like Employment, Health, Family and Entrepreneurship. I don’t think we are anywhere near needing a UBI yet. Despite wanting to see full automation, I am still slightly afraid of how the dominos may fall from that point on. It is reassuring to see there are potential options being studied and we will be required to advance blindly.

Most of you know I am a big Musk fan since 2012. Admittedly it has become much less fun rooting for the guy as his underdog aura has dissipated but the reason he got there is engineering. When one of the best engineering minds in the world speaks, I try to listen and you can too! Here is a great interview with Elon Musk and Jordan Peterson.