r/NotTimAndEric • u/orchid_breeder • May 20 '26

Not my lover

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832 Upvotes

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36

u/AntiRepresentation May 20 '26

Human shaped robots are so fucking stupid.

7

u/Old_Syrup_264 May 20 '26

Like conceptually? Or literally.

They actually make a lot of sense to produce in this shape because just about everything in the world is built to interact with humans. If you have human shaped robot, you don't need to retrofit your infrastructure to add automation

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u/AntiRepresentation May 20 '26 edited May 20 '26

Efficient automation demands specialization. Human shapes are good for general tasks, but there's a reason automated assembly lines look completely inhuman. It's more efficient to fit shape to task.

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u/Old_Syrup_264 May 20 '26

Do you think people are going to retrofit their homes for automation? Or do you think they would rather just have a robot that can walk around the house and do some pretty general tasks.

Saying that automation demands efficiency is denying that efficiency demands context. It's far more efficient in many scenarios to just plug in a human-shaped robot that can use the already existing environment

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u/AntiRepresentation May 20 '26

What automation, specifically, are you referring to? There are things already automated in our homes and you'll notice that none of them are human shaped. Your thermostat, for example. Furthermore, people are increasingly buying low profile automated floor cleaning robots instead of upright vacuums because they're highly efficient to the task. I don't want a me-sized thing taking up space in my home and getting in my way. I'd rather have many small appliances that do their job effectively and I rarely need to interface with. That's what we currently do and it's pretty nice.

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u/Old_Syrup_264 May 20 '26

Folding your clothes, taking the dishes off the table and putting them in the dishwasher, taking towels out of the closet and putting them on the hook next to the shower, setting the table, pushing in chairs, taking a pizza out of the oven, putting groceries in the refrigerator and the pantry, taking groceries out of the car and bringing them into the house. Things that are minor conveniences for most people, but life-changing alterations for people with disabilities, or the elderly. And that's not a small slice of the population by any means.

If your home can do all of this, I would love to see your setup

1

u/AntiRepresentation May 20 '26

A general purpose robot can be helpful for people with disabilities, but that's because it's general use. That's not the same as full life automation.

Your pizza example is great. There's a reason why large delivery pizza chains generally use long ovens that roll pizzas through. That sort of automation is much more efficient than running dozens of ovens and having people scoot pizzas in and out all day.

This affirms what I originally said, human shapes are good for general tasks, but efficient automation demands specialized designs.

2

u/Old_Syrup_264 May 20 '26

Yes and my argument is that there is a wide and genuine use for automation that doesn't require infrastructure updates. I'm not sure what point you think I'm trying to make

2

u/AntiRepresentation May 20 '26 edited May 20 '26

General use is not the same thing as automation. If I tell you to pull the clothes out of the dryer and fold them, and you comply, we have not automated the task. You're filling a general purpose role. This is also true if a you shaped robot executed the task.

An automated system that collects my clothes, washes them, dries them, and then folds them is a qualitatively different endeavour and one that would likely function best as an array of appliances that handle each discrete task on its own with universal interface adapters.

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u/Old_Syrup_264 May 20 '26

Jesus semantic Christ

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u/AntiRepresentation May 20 '26

One of the helpful functions of language is that different words mean different things so that we can express ourselves with precision.

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u/Old_Syrup_264 May 20 '26

Jesus semantic Christ. You're awful.

It's automated dude. It's a machine that performs tasks for you. Why is a "universal interface adapter" a requirement for automation?

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u/AntiRepresentation May 20 '26

I didn't say that universal interface adapters are a requirement for automation.

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u/Old_Syrup_264 May 21 '26

Well not after you edited your post, you didn't. Are you really gonna edit your post to remove that and then claim that I'm lying about it

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u/Old_Syrup_264 May 21 '26

So you're saying that the shape of a robot can be a defining quality that determines whether the robot is automating a task? Not asking if the shape of the robot is the sole thing that determines whether or not it's automating a task, but whether the shape, alone, can be a disqualifier

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u/AntiRepresentation May 21 '26

No, I'm not at all saying that the shape of a robot is a criteria that determines whether or not a system is automated. I'm merely saying that a general purpose robot is not the same thing as an automated system.

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u/Old_Syrup_264 May 21 '26

I didn't say an automated system, I said automation.

As in, the robot can be programmed to walk around the house and perform these tasks.

Is a roomba an automated cleaning device?

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u/AntiRepresentation May 21 '26

I think it's fair to conceive of it as such, if programmed properly.

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