Greg Laden's Blog

Warning sounded over 'flirting robots'

A program that can mimic online flirtation and then extract personal information from its unsuspecting conversation partners is making the rounds in Russian chat forums, according to security software firm PC Tools.

The artificial intelligence of CyberLover's automated chats is good enough that victims have a tough time distinguishing the "bot" from a real potential suitor, PC Tools said. The software can work quickly too, establishing up to 10 relationships in 30 minutes, PC Tools said. It compiles a report on every person it meets complete with name, contact information, and photos.

Home robots 'a reality' from 2010

Robots could be a fact of a every day life in the next decade - assuming car giant Toyota gets it way.

For Toyota announced two new versions of its Partner Robot series yesterday, both of which promise to make our lives easier, while entertaining us as well.

...researchers in Japan have developed software that allows a life-size humanoid robot to stay on its feet no matter where on its body it is pushed. Theirs is the first full-size humanoid to show such steadiness - others of similar size inevitably topple over when nudged in the right spot. In experiments, the robot was subjected to repeated pushes. A virtual robot received much harder shoves.

Just accept it, people: Worldwide robot uprising on the way

On Saturday night, I happened to turn into my night radio program, Coast to Coast AM. ... There was a stately British man named David Levy, who has written books about the topic, telling me all about the possibilities of robots and people having intimate relations, sexual and otherwise, in the very near future. Now, it was at about a quarter of the way through the show when the host of the night, Ian Punnett, posed a question about the ethical treatment of robots. The next thing that came out of his mouth nearly made me die laughing. Punnett asked Levy, "If a robot can't say no, isn't it rape?"

No-Assembly Humanoid Is Affordable Toy from PhysOrg.com

(AP) -- Relatively affordable at $300, i-Sobot has 17 motors, can recognize spoken words and be controlled remotely, making the walking, somersaulting, karate-chopping robot as close to a humanoid as toys get.

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Gibson Shows New Self-Tuning Guitar from PhysOrg.com
(AP) -- Musicians of the world are getting a new kind of artistic freedom with technology that eliminates the challenging chore of tuning.

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