Yascha Mounk at his own website:
For five days, robots have been competing in human sports from boxing to soccer and table tennis. They also competed in competitions that were a little less coy about the reasons for the massive investments that are currently being made into this technology: for example, robots also competed to open packages and sort their contents as fast as possible.
It’s hard not to marvel at the progress the robots are making. In track and field, they have broken one human record after another. On Sunday, Tiangong Ultra ran 400 meters in 38.15 seconds, roughly five seconds faster than Wayde van Niekerk, the fastest human. The 100-meter record was also broken in Beijing: while Usain Bolt takes 9.58 seconds at his very best, Tiangong Ultra crossed the finish line in just 8.86 seconds.
Tiangong Omni, another victorious robot from the same manufacturer, attracted even more attention thanks to its peculiar style. While running, it leans far forward and swings its artificial arms wildly from left to right. According to its developers, nobody taught the robot the strange style that maximizes the robot’s momentum while making it look endearingly shy: it supposedly discovered it on its own.
More here.
Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.