AI, CitizenMe and You – Part 4: Can it move?

• January 17, 2019
• StJohn Deakins
• no comments

If a machine can move by itself without help, and moves based on what it can see, feel and hear around it (i.e. not on a pre-programmed route or a person using a remote control behind a curtain) then it’s a smart robot. This is what the occasional lazy journalist and blogger will use as a picture to represent ‘AI’ – strangely often wearing glasses to read a tablet screen… (hint: if it’s a super smart AI robot, it probably doesn’t need reading glasses – or a tablet #JustSayin)

Robotics and ‘automation’ are already being used extensively in manufacturing production lines and even livestock farming. The biggest advances that will affect us all in the next ten years will be in self-driving delivery drones, cars & trucks and care robots for the elderly and infirm. We’ll know robotics are mainstream when we all forget that they’re there. (Anyone remember having to use a landline phone to dial up for an internet connection?).

So we’re less likely to be taking a metallic robo-dog for walks in the park:

Sony Aibo

And more likely to be providing (low maintenance) cuddly pet robo-Seals to the elderly to keep them company:

Paro the care seal for the elderly

Or watching a smart Amazon drone deliver fresh groceries to our doorstep:

Or sitting in a self driving Uber (probably still in heavy traffic):

Robot Data and You

CitizenMe doesn’t use AI robotics right now; however, the growing use of robots – and the sensors that they use – will create rich streams of data, much of it connecting back to us human users. When we apply AI, this data will become highly valuable for all of us, both individually and collectively as a society. The question is, who should ‘own’ all of the data that our personal robots will create? We believe that a copy of any data created by a smart device or robot that you own should, by default, always be yours. It’s just common sense, right?

Next Post: Can AI See? (Observing the World)

In this series of 7 blog posts, we explain what Artificial Intelligence does, why it’s so useful for us all, what we’re doing at CitizenMe – and what this means for you.

• Introduction
• What Exactly Is AI?
• Can AI Read or Hear? (Chat Bots & Voice Assistants)
• Can AI Move? (Smart Robots)
• Can AI See? (Observing the World)
• Can AI Reason? (Logical Deductions)
• Can AI Feel? (Emotions & Humanity)

As always, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contacts us: hello@citizenme.com