Archive for the 'Rise of the Machines' Category
IBM Watson Replaces Insurance Claim Workers at Japanese Insurance Company
January 4th, 2017Via: Quartz: Most of the attention around automation focuses on how factory robots and self-driving cars may fundamentally change our workforce, potentially eliminating millions of jobs. But AI that can handle knowledge-based, white-collar work are also becoming increasingly competent. One Japanese insurance company, Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance, is reportedly replacing 34 human insurance claim workers […]
Foxconn Plans to Replace Almost Every Human Worker with Robots
January 1st, 2017Just in case anyone out there thinks that this is somehow not real, or not going to happen, ASUS moved to 100% automation for video card production back in 2015. Via: The Verge: Foxconn, the Taiwanese manufacturing giant behind Apple’s iPhone and numerous other major electronics devices, aims to automate away a vast majority of […]
The One About Amazon’s Floating Warehouses
December 29th, 2016My guess about this one is that it’s a joke—something like Elon Musk’s tunnel boring tweets. Assuming that it would be physically possible to float hundreds of tons of merchandise over a city (forget about the FAA for a moment), what would the economics of that look like? In any event, Jeff Bezos will probably […]
Tesla Autopilot Predicts Accident Caught on Dashcam a Second Later
December 27th, 2016Via: Electrek: In the video embedded below, we can hear the Tesla Autopilot’s Forward Collision Warning sending out an alert for seemingly no reason, but a fraction of a second later we understand why when the vehicle in front of the Tesla crashes into an SUV that wasn’t visible from the standpoint of the Tesla […]
World’s Largest Hedge Fund to Replace Managers with Artificial Intelligence
December 22nd, 2016Via: Guardian: The world’s largest hedge fund is building a piece of software to automate the day-to-day management of the firm, including hiring, firing and other strategic decision-making. Bridgewater Associates has a team of software engineers working on the project at the request of billionaire founder Ray Dalio, who wants to ensure the company can […]
Amazon Drone Makes First Delivery to Customer
December 14th, 2016Via: Engadget: It’s already been three years since Amazon first revealed its somewhat audacious plan to make deliveries by drone. But the company is quite serious about this, and today it is announcing that it complete the first Amazon Prime Air drone-powered delivery. The company recently launched a trial in Cambridge, England — and on […]
Uber’s Self-Driving Cars Start Picking Up Passengers in San Francisco
December 14th, 2016Via: Tech Crunch: Uber’s self-driving cars are making the move to San Francisco, in a new expansion of its pilot project with autonomous vehicles that will see Volvo SUVs outfitted with sensors and supercomputers begin picking up passengers in the city. The autonomous cars won’t operate completely driverless, for the time being – as in […]
Russian Killer Robot Guns Down ISIS Leader and 4 Others
December 8th, 2016Via: Inquisitr: A machine-gun-wielding Russian robot was sent in to “take out” an ISIS emir and four other militants in a raid this week designed to stop terrorist attacks in the Republic of Dagestan, according to Russian security services. A video showing the killer robot indicates that the mechanical shooter was maneuvered into position and […]
Amazon Just Opened a Grocery Store Without a Checkout Line
December 7th, 2016Via: USA Today: Amazon is testing a grocery store in downtown Seattle that lets customers walk in, grab food from the shelves and walk out again, without ever having to stand in a checkout line. Customers tap their cellphones on a turnstile as they walk into the store, which logs them into the store’s network […]
Wall-Jumping Robot Is Most Vertically Agile Ever Built
December 6th, 2016Ah yes, “Search and rescue missions.” *wink* “The research was supported by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory under the Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology Collaborative Technology Alliance…” The objective of the Army’s Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology Collaborative Technology Alliance: Perform enabling research and transition technology that will enhance warfighter’s tactical situational awareness in urban […]
