Meet the robot that’s fifty times faster than a brain surgeon
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Robots integrated with AI and Machine Vision are becoming increasingly capable surgeons and one day they’ll save thousands of lives. Earlier this week scientists in the US revealed a new robotic drill that can cut, excuse the pun, the most sensitive brain surgeries down from two...
Meet the new harvesting robots that can pick 10,000 apples an hour
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Jobs that require precision and dexterity have long been protected against automation because robots could mimic the behaviour of humans accurately or fast enough, but now all that’s changing. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch...
Amazon is on track be the world’s first fully automated fulfilment company
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The combination of “old school” robotics and new AI and Machine Vision technologies is helping robotics companies automate increasingly complex tasks that were once thought to be the exclusive domain of humans. By the time you’ve picked your Amazon parcel up off of your...
World’s biggest meat producer begins rolling out robot butchers
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Lower cost robots are increasingly being augmented with advanced AI and that’s accelerating the rate at which human jobs are being automated. Robots, which might get actual rights later this year when the EU votes on the issue, have been improving a lot lately...
US General: ‘Swarms of autonomous Hunter-Killer drones will lead Marines into battle’
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The automation of war, and warfare, is accelerating as countries race to embrace new AI powered autonomous platforms. The US Marines, who recently announced they want their own fully autonomous F-35’s are getting their “Low Cost Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Swarming Technology” platform, also known...
The USAF turned an F-16 fighter jet into the world’s most advanced drone
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Militaries around the world are weaponising AI and drones to create semi, or fully, autonomous weapons platforms and the pace of development is accelerating. Earlier this week the US Air Force (USAF) announced that it has managed to turn an F-16 fighter jet into...
Meet the robot that wants to replace fork lift truck drivers
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Forklift drivers have so far been lucky to escape the clutches of automation, but now that could be about to change. It seems to be all go in the world of warehouses. Robot pickers can now pick goods as fast, and as accurately as...
Robots are taking over and automating the world’s mines
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Automation is taking the world’s mining operations by storm, and it will only be a matter of time before the only humans are the ones servicing the machines. Every one of the giant Komatsu 250 ton trucks is the size of a two story family...
Locus’s new robots learn to navigate warehouses by themselves
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The process of automating, and replacing more human workers, is paved with small advances like this one Last week Locus Robotics unveiled a robotic navigation system that lets their LocusBots work more effectively together, and with humans in crowded, bustling warehouses. The LRAN system,...
Warehouse robot’s upgrade helps it pick goods at human speed
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Robots are now as fast and accurate as human workers when it comes to identifying and picking goods from warehouse bins and shelves, and that’s a problem if that’s your job. Buried deep within a building in Somerville, Massachusetts, a robot arm spends all...
CaliBurger rolls out the world’s first burger flipping robot
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Robot manufacturers are increasingly targeting the services sector, and that includes flipping burgers. Flippy, a burger flipping robot has just completed its first day on the job at CaliBurger, a burger chain in California, and in doing so it broke the hearts of tens of...
Dubai will start replacing real police officers with robo-cops in May
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As robots, and robo systems, become more capable countries are finding new uses for them, this will be the first time robo-cops are used en masse to assist the public. Dubai is a country, or more specifically an Emirate, that’s not just looking to...
DARPA’s TERN drone gives US Marines a new wingman
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Most of today’s drones are limited by the distances they can fly and the payloads they can carry, now the US wants an eye in the sky that can help protect, and resupply troops wherever they are Terns are a family of shorebirds that...
F-35 pilots will team with AI to control swarms of drones in mid flight
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Teams of humans, AI’s and drones take center stage in the future of warfare, until that is AI’s replace humans. In the wake of a recent announcement that the US will stand up it’s first fully autonomous drone squadron later this year earlier this...
Researchers unveil the first telepathic link between a robot and a human
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF One of the biggest problems in manufacturing is having to re-train robots to complete new tasks, but now Robot-Human telepathy could make that problem disappear. Those of you who wish others could read your mind must think it’s Christmas – whether it’s because Zuckerberg seems...
So long Asimov’s Laws, say hello to the 23 Laws of Robotics
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Whether they’re hardware based, or software based, machines are getting increasingly capable, creative, intelligent and resilient – and that has experts worried, so now they’ve created a new set of laws to try to guide the technology’s development and trajectory. Ever since people first...
Robo-lawyers want to automate the entire legal world
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Most lawyers and legal professionals agree that their profession hasn’t changed much in hundreds of years, but now artificial intelligence, and the rise of “robo-lawyers” is beginning to change all that. To many people, lawyers, like doctors, optimise the pinnacle of what it means...
Accenture automates 17,000 jobs without making anyone redundant
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF In the age of automation humans are all too often the collateral damage but with vision and careful management that doesn’t always have to be the case. In the past eighteen months one of the world’s largest professional services and technology companies, Accenture, according...
Robot sales in 2016 were the best ever
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Sales of robots, particularly in China, are booming and analysts expect more of the same in 2017. The rise of automation and its impact on jobs has dominated headlines for a while now, whether it’s because Foxconn are cutting 1.2 million jobs, or companies...
Norwegian robot learns to self-evolve and 3D print itself in the lab
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF For the first time we are seeing how it’s possible for robots in the future to design and evolve, manufacture and assemble themselves without human input. Experts at the University of Oslo, Norway have discovered a new way for robots to design, evolve and manufacture...
