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Artificial intelligence has taken the world by storm over the past few years, but there are still plenty of issues that need to be ironed out. That’s certainly the case with an A.I.-powered robot that was recently unveiled at a ceremony in Russia, which was cut short when it faceplanted immediately after appearing on stage.
It would be foolish to dismiss the potential of artificial intelligence, which has already left its mark on many facets of day-to-day life and will only continue to transform society as we know it going forward.
With that said, it’s hard not to question whether the companies responsible for the newest technological gold rush have gotten over their skis when it comes to peddling A.I.. There are many evangelists who have plenty of financial incentive to hype up the benefits while minimizing its downsides and shortcomings, and there are plenty of red flags that are certainly a cause for concern.
Many of those issues can be traced back to the fact that A.I. is still very much in its infancy, and if you’re one of those people who can’t get the notion of an impending robot apocalypse out of the back of your mind, you’ll likely be assuaged by a clip of a recent unveiling that did not go according to plan.
An A.I.-powered robot faceplanted right after a Russian company unveiled it at a ceremony in Moscow
As things currently stand, most people have been exposed to A.I. via ChatGPT and similar programs.
I’d argue the fact that the vast majority of those interactions are with a faceless “being” has helped facilitate its adoption, as I have a hard time imagining it would have taken off as quickly as it did if you had to have the same conversations with a physical robot masquerading as a real human.
There are plenty of companies that have focused on the development of A.I.-powered humanoids capable of completing a variety of tasks. That includes Idol, a Moscow-based firm that recently gave the public its first look at its creatively named “AIdol” during a ceremony that was held at Yarovit Hall Congress Center earlier this week.
According to Fortune, AIdol is specifically designed to walk, communicate with people, and engage in “object manipulation” while facilitating interactions with a silicon face that can be molded to mimic ” a dozen basic emotions and hundreds of micro-expressions.”
However, the people who gathered for its unveiling on Monday didn’t really get a chance to see it show off its potential, as the robot managed to stay upright for around 15 seconds after appearing onstage before stumbling over as its “handlers” scrambled to drag it away.
Idol CEO Vladimir Vitukhin chalked up the dismal debut to calibration issues with cameras he implied were impacted by the lighting in the venue, and entered the spin zone by saying:
“This is real-time learning, when a good mistake turns into knowledge, and a bad mistake turns into experience. I hope that this mistake will turn into an experience.”
Good job, good effort.