There’s no guarantee that this week’s DARPA Robotics Challenge finals will be as much a watershed for the field as the 2004 Grand Challenge was for driverless, but the competition will probably lead to information being shared and the discipline advancing. That’s a great thing, though while robotics will increase wealth in the aggregate, it will tax us to reposition society around it economically and to redefine the role of humans. Members from some of the competing teams just did an Ask Me Anything at Reddit. A few exchanges follow.

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Question:

Ethics: Do you feel your contributions are leading to a society where most machines will replace humans, causing permanent unemployment? What is the future role of man in the Age of AI?

Jerry Pratt – Team IHMC:

Humans and technology go hand in hand. Without humans, there is no technology, and humans would have a hard time surviving without their technology. We are already cyborgs in some sense. We wear clothing, live in houses, drive planes, trains, and automobiles. A large number of people have ocular prosthetics nearly permanently attached inside their eyelids (contact lenses). We communicate long distances and enhance our memories. As technology gets more advanced, we’ll continue to become one with it. With AI this means that someday we will have SIRI or OK-Google style interfaces that are really powerful and can significantly enhance our capabilities. Should we fear this? Not sure. Just make sure you can always unplug to get away from it all…

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Question:

What are the main pros and cons you see of robots integrated into our society in the future?

Todd Danko – Team TROOPER:

Pros – Robots participating in dull, dirty and dangerous jobs. Cons – Not really a con, but a big challenge is building trust between humans and robots.

Russ Tedrake – Team MIT:

Robots are already doing amazing things in medicine, manufacturing, … the new buyin from industry means we’re going to see so much more of this in the next few years. Like every new technology (e.g. the personal computer), it means our society is going to have to adapt. But it will be overwhelming good for society as a whole.

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Question:

After DRC Urban Challenge most of the auto companies started to work on driverless-cars. Do you think same thing will happen with humanoid robots (not auto companies obviously, any company that can handle humanoid robots)?

Scott Kuindersma – Team MIT:

The increased investment we’ve seen from industry over the past year suggests that is likely to be the case, though it might not be in humanoid form factor.

Russ Tedrake – Team MIT:

I think working on humanoids forces us to solve some really important science questions… it’s hard for the right reasons. But the technology will appear first in other applications (manufacturing, logistics, medicine, …)

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Question:

Have you seen Age of Ultron? If yes, did you question your line of work as Tony Stark did when he realized he created a monster that could end humanity? (All in jest of course. You guys are awesome.)

Russ Tedrake – Team MIT:

I actually think the political and ethical questions for robots are super important. But we’re still far away from a robot takeover. There are very basic things that humans do well which robots cannot…

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Question:

Would you say icons such as Elon Musk and Hawking are edging on paranoia then with the whole AI/ robot threat?

Scott Kuindersma – Team MIT:

I think if we accept that 1) there is nothing special about the hardware that implements biological intelligence and 2) that we will continue to make progress toward AI, then their concerns are legitimate. However, the problem is definitely not imminent.•