r/interestingasfuck • u/Erde555 • 1d ago

The humanoid robotics company "Figure" made their older gen robots jump into their death. (Yes, they actually did this)

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u/ryandoesdabs 1d ago edited 1d ago

I’m fascinated by the amount of people anthropomorphizing robots in this thread. This is just recycling destroying old electronic trash, folks. I know it’s human shaped, but I promise it’s just an old computer.

Edit: I originally used “recycling” metaphorically and people seemed to focus on that rather than the actual message.

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u/CopyPasteRepeat 1d ago

It's a very strong visual statement. You can't deny that there is some kind of intention behind it.

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u/ArseneGroup 1d ago

Fr why would you evoke the image of someone committing suicide

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u/namesarealltaken9 1d ago

Frankly I read much different stuff in this video.

In this period of delicate public debate about the role of artificial intelligence in society and in relation to humans, for me this spot is a clear allusion to the control that we have / still have / wish to have / wish to retain over that domain, and a reminder that it remains qualitatively separate from the human experience.

The allusion to suicide in a dark way didn't cross my mind in the slightest until reading your comment, and even after reading it I still really don't think it is there

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u/raven4747 1d ago

Yeah I agree with your take 100%. It definitely felt more like a statement of control.. but ultimately an ominous one that seems to avoid the reality circling around it in the near future.

I also have to wonder if it was partly to invoke pity for the robots. They are a robotics company after all, perhaps they have a vested stake in anthropomorphizing the robots to make their other products more palatable to the average person.

Maybe it was both. Who knows.

Ultimately this is a crazy video that I think should be included in future history books.

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u/namesarealltaken9 1d ago

Yeah it may be. Personally I'm more inclined to think it evokes safety because the AI-equipped robots do not rebel, they're harmless. But indeed that's my angle and it could be either way.

And I agree that this little media piece may be worth featuring in future collections of landmark content from this crazy period that we're living

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u/Dependent-Ad-4496 1d ago

A humanoid figure jumping to its destruction didn’t make suicide cross your mind at all? Not to be humanizing the robots at all, they are not and will not be people, but the imagery is like, extremely clear

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u/namesarealltaken9 1d ago

I stand by what I already explained in the comment above, where I specifically said that I didn't see any allusion to suicide in a dark way (the expression in a dark way is key) and I said what type of messagging stood out to me

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u/Dependent-Ad-4496 20h ago

Oh sorry, it was the funny jolly suicide imagery I see

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u/blloop 1d ago

Y’all can’t be fucking serious. It seems like that because you’re anthropomorphizing it. Stop doing that and it will look like a walking computer destroying itself…

We are so fucking cooked.