Japanese Build Robot Toddlers 81
kgeiger writes "The Japanese birth dearth may be crashing their population and rendering kids a rarity, but never fear! Robotics researchers at Osaka University are building robot babies to learn how people are supposed to interact with young children. For anyone who has raised real kids, cyberkiddies would seem a cheat unless they come with "why? Why? WHY?" and "No!" infinite loops and no OFF switch."
Hã? (Score:1)
Tamagochi v2.0? :-)
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Do you think paedophiles in prison should be given free access to child porn so as not to infringe their human rights?
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So there's no connection between feeding paedophiles' fantasies and their subsequently acting out these fantasies in real life?
No.
paedophile
I now have no interest in speaking with you. I've learned everything I have ever needed to know about you people from dailymail.co.uk comment section. I could know your opinions before you do. Go enjoy your paranoid country and leave the rational people to discuss things.
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For the same reason drawn comics (which are clearly comics because NO human being could have a remotely similar anatomy) of kids having sex are illegal in many countries.
Do not question the logic of laws concerning sex, drugs or copyright. They do not have to make sense.
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For the people who want American free speech laws there's still America, where anything short of real child pornography is legal.
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Unless it's "obscene" (in the judge's arbitrary opinion), copyrighted, trademarked or patented. Or unless someone claims it is by filing a false DMCA notification and you don't have $10,000+ in spare cash to contest it. Or unless someone with more money than you says it is. Or unless your rulers decide it is.
But besides that, yes, it's illegal^Hlegal.
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It's like a judge saying "There's no law saying the state can't make red cars illegal so you're going to jail for having a red car."
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OK, maybe that argument doesn't work well with everything...
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"no OFF switch" - makes me think of Max Headroom [maxheadroom.com].
Improvement, not duplication (Score:5, Funny)
For anyone who has raised real kids, cyberkiddies would seem a cheat unless they come with "why? Why? WHY?" and "No!" infinite loops and no OFF switch.
Like cars are cheating if they don't eat hay and crap in the street.
Re:Improvement, not duplication (Score:4, Funny)
That's funny. My car is essentially crap in the street.
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That's funny. My car is essentially crap in the street.
And considering that you can make ethanol from hay [wired.com], then I'll be looking for your car at the next Kentucky Derby.
didn't kubrick and spielberg make this already? (Score:3)
and wasn't it a really really horrible mess?
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Dunno. When I was watching the movie, they accidentally put in the last roll in reverse. Oddly, it made more sense that way...
Break themselves? (Score:2)
Is it an accurate simulation? (Score:4, Interesting)
It's only an accurate simulation if 3/4ths of the robot kids are delivered 9 months after a surprise announcement that the recipient was getting one.
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I'm sure I'm going to get modded offtopic, but it's amazing to me that in the 21st century there are females out there in 1st world countries who refuse to get any control over their reproductive systems.
Then again, how do you explain to someone that believes that contraception is killing unborn babies that as part of a female's normal cycle, an unfertilized egg is discarded each month? There again, my folks accused me of the murder of their unborn grandkids (their! as though it was something that woul
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I think that things like condoms are a much better option
Condoms are even further from being 100% effective than the pill.
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I agree with you. That piece of flesh is something I miss every day.
I guess it depends upon your definition of "necessary."
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I agree with you. That piece of flesh is something I miss every day.
I guess it depends upon your definition of "necessary."
No it doesn't; I miss it regardless of how much I will or won't use it. It was tragically taken from me without my consent. "Necessary" doesn't enter into it; it was mine.
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"No thank you," I said. "I'm rather tired. You should retire to your box."
"But master-sama, Suiseiseki doesn't like her box-desu! I want to sleep in master-sama's bed-desu!"
"Not tonight. You'll do as you're told."
"Why doesn't master-sama have real girls in his bed?"
"What?!"
"Is master-sama's penis too small for real girls?"
"Why aren't you saying desu?"
"Does he have to use dolls instead?"
"SAY DESU! SUISEISEKI FINISHES HER SENTENCES
It won't work... (Score:5, Insightful)
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How can you study this kind of thing using robots? No matter what you do, you can't simulate small children well enough to make people act the same around the robot as a real kid. It's a nice concept, but it'll never get anything done except entertain. Plus I bet we'll never hear about this again in the US.
I remember reading how when people encounter a robot for the first time, they avoid eye contact out of respect until they realize it's a robot they're talking to. All you have to fool is the casual observer to get human reactions. But then, even a casual observer may notice a disembodied head being atypical....
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Well sure it does. I'm working in Japan now, and this place is pretty terrible towards its workers.
Young people don't want to have kids because they are paid rotten salaries, overworked, and their job security isn't that great.... (women are still expected to "retire" when they get married or have a kid!) lol
If the government forced employers to adhere to proper employment laws, allowed and encouraged unions, and made work family friendly -- they wouldn't need robot kids!
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I'm married to a Japanese woman and living in Japan. We don't want children because we don't want them. We have no desire to have them.
That's fine for you and your wife. But it obviously doesn't describe the average person in any locality - if it did, our species would probably be extinct.
In case it had escaped your attention, he wasn't talking about the "average person in any locality" though- he was talking about Japan. And it's also pretty well-known that Japan *does* have a serious problem with an ageing population and not enough children- which over the not-so-long term certainly *will* lead to their extinction if they don't do something about it.
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allowed and encouraged unions
Allowed, encouraged, and regulated unions, you mean. Contrary to popular belief, unions are not a panacea.
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allowed and encouraged unions
Allowed, encouraged, and regulated unions, you mean. Contrary to popular belief, unions are not a panacea.
Any union's better than no unions, except for the handful of rich property owners at the top of the chain, you dumb fuck.
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Um, these guys [realityworks.com] would probably disagree with you. They've been around for over a decade and are doing quite well I believe.
This complicates things... (Score:5, Funny)
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Now I don't know whether I should be stocking up on EMP weapons or coathangers in order to battle the robot uprising. Thanks a lot, Japan.
It'll be easy now, just don't put plug protectors over your electrical sockets and the uprisers will take care of themselves.
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Or put plug protectors on ALL sockets and watch the robots run out of battery.
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Done in film already (Score:1)
(and iirc, the parent trainees were Japanese)
Not to mention (Score:1)
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That's right. If the little motherfucker doesn't shit, urinate, and projectile vomit, IT IS NOT REAL.
If it's all unicorns and candy and fun, made from carbon fiber, plastic and has a battery, it's not real.
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Projectile is not a verb.
is "vomit projectilely" or "vomit ina projecile manner" better?
Hey now.. (Score:2)
For anyone who has raised real kids, cyberkiddies would seem a cheat...
We prefer to call it 'asexual reproduction'. For most of us here, it's the only option we have!
Point of order.. (Score:1)
Hell With Teaching People to Deal With Kids! (Score:2)
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Lets fit them with a homicidal hunter/killer AI and unleash hordes (HORDES!) of them on our enemies in one of our wars! Then we'd be talking!
Cool! Philip K. Dick is alive and posting to Slashdot!
Speaking as a parent (Score:2)
man baby (Score:2)
I misread this at first... (Score:2)
To add to the realism (Score:2)
You pay an initial fee for the robot (birth), then roughly one third to one half of your take-home pay goes to the manufacturer to pay for the maturity updates (rearing) and service packs (education).
Hopefully you can at least beat the fuck out of this version without CPS getting involved.
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You pay an initial fee for the robot (birth), then roughly one third to one half of your take-home pay goes to the manufacturer to pay for the maturity updates (rearing) and service packs (education).
Hopefully you can at least beat the fuck out of this version without CPS getting involved.
Or, alternatively, you could choose not to have kids and then fucking whine about it afterwards.
Japan cool (Score:1)
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And they always build it smaller and smaller, it's fantastic!
No one saw this coming (Score:1)
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Even though it would be a huge personal sacrifice, I am willing to impregnate as many Japanese women as needed to reverse their birth dearth.
Dearth... who says that anymore? Funny word... dearth, dearth, dearth.
HEX
Interact with the car ? (Score:2)
My toddlers will take over the world! (Score:1)
I suddenly have that craving (Score:2)
Why do I suddenly want to buy a copy of Dead Space 2?
How's this new? (Score:2)
Sure, it may be higher tech but we've had dolls that simulate the trials and tribulations of having a baby for decades. They're handed out to teenagers to teach them that they aren't mature enough to handle having children yet.
Just get a cat instead (Score:2)
Get a cat instead, they probably work better.
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Get a cat instead, they probably work better.
Plus cats bring you presents. Admittedly they tend to be dead mice or crippled birds, but i's the thought that counts...
Life imitates SF (Score:2)
I recall a science fiction story where the Chinese invented a realistic robot toddler. The US government, in its infinite wisdom, made a law that anyone who wanted to have a real kid had to care for one of these robot kids for a period of time. To make a long story short, after a generation the Chinese Army rolled in and took over the depopulated United States.
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To make a long story short, after a generation the Chinese Army rolled in and took over the depopulated United States.
That may very well happen, but it won't take another generation. It wish it would, though ... then I could retire and die and not worry about it.
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