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AI Robotics

Egyptian Security Forces Detain Humanoid Robot, Suspecting Espionage (theguardian.com) 36

Posted by EditorDavid from the art-imitating-life dept.
The Guardian reports: She has been described as "a vision of the future" who is every bit as good as other abstract artists today, but Ai-Da — the world's first ultra-realistic robot artist — hit a temporary snag before her latest exhibition when Egyptian security forces detained her at customs.

Ai-Da is due to open and present her work at the Great Pyramid of Giza on Thursday, the first time contemporary art has been allowed next to the pyramid in thousands of years. But because of "security issues" that may include concerns that she is part of a wider espionage plot, both Ai-Da and her sculpture were held in Egyptian customs for 10 days before being released on Wednesday, sparking a diplomatic fracas... According to Aidan Meller, the human force behind Ai-Da, border guards detained Ai-Da at first because she had a modem, and then because she had cameras in her eyes (which she uses to draw and paint). "I can ditch the modems, but I can't really gouge her eyes out," he said.

She was finally cleared through customs on Wednesday evening, hours before the exhibition was due to start, with the British embassy in Cairo saying they were "glad" the case had been resolved...

Meller, an Oxford gallerist, said he always hoped his project would prompt debate about the rapid rise of AI technology. "She is an artist robot, let's be really clear about this. She is not a spy. People fear robots, I understand that. But the whole situation is ironic, because the goal of Ai-Da was to highlight and warn of the abuse of technological development, and she's being held because she is technology. Ai-Da would appreciate that irony, I think."
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Egyptian Security Forces Detain Humanoid Robot, Suspecting Espionage More

Egyptian Security Forces Detain Humanoid Robot, Suspecting Espionage

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    • I think the headline should read something like. "Egyptian security make up excuse wanting a bribe"

    • Wait 'till they learn about the cell phone cameras the kids have these days!

      • Re:Congrats (Score:4, Informative)

        by timeOday ( 582209 ) on Sunday October 24, 2021 @09:57AM (#61922027)
        Ah, so close to putting your finger on the spin that gives this story legs in the first place.

        All electronics ARE at risk of detention and inspection at international borders. Including countries far more liberal than Egypt:

        U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has been inspecting U.S. citizens and international travelersâ(TM) laptops and smartphones at U.S. border entry points for years, sometimes confiscating them for days, weeks or even months to perform detailed inspections...

        The U.S. isnâ(TM)t the only country thatâ(TM)s seizing and searching travelersâ(TM) electronic devices. According to an investigative report from the New York Times, China is routinely requiring travelers to its western region of Xinjiangto, to turn over their mobile phones and other electronic devices for inspection, copying and reviewing their data. For iPhones, they require travelers to turn them over to Chinese border agents, so they can connect them to a USB cable to download their data. Itâ(TM)s unknown if they do anything else to iPhones. For Android phones, the Chinese agents install Fengcai, a spy app, on the phones. It scans usersâ(TM) text messages, contacts and checks photos, videos, documents and audio against a list within Fengcai. Before the phones are returned, Chinese border agents photograph each visitor with their device and passport. It doesnâ(TM)t appear that the app continues spying on the device, away from the border.

        Australia and New Zealand have joined the U.S. and China in examining travelers' "electronic lives" at the border to their countries.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by cusco ( 717999 )

      Ought to be, but unfortunately we all know that it won't be long and some other article will surpass it.

  • Does "she" have a gun mount?

  • a "she" robot? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by KiloByte ( 825081 ) on Saturday October 23, 2021 @04:50PM (#61920891)

    How exactly, pray tell, a robot can be a "she"?

    So you're telling me a machine can reproduce, think, perhaps invent a patent?

    Next thing, you'll be anthropomorphizing spammers and telemarketers...

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by NFN_NLN ( 633283 )

      > How exactly, pray tell, a robot can be a "she"?

      Well, I'm not having sex with a robot that identifies as a "he". And I'm not, not having sex with a robots, so...

    • How exactly, pray tell, a robot can be a "she"?

      "Cherry 2000" [wikipedia.org]

      In the year 2017, the United States has fragmented into post-apocalyptic wastelands with a few civilized areas. An ongoing economic crisis has led to the recycling of aging 20th-century mechanical and technological equipment. Society has also become averse to intimacy, as well as both increasingly hypersexualized and bureaucratic. Robotic technology has produced female androids (more properly, Gynoids) as substitutes for wives. The declining instances of actual sex among men and women is litigious, with one brothel having lawyers draft up contracts detailing the intended sexual rendezvous.

      • I think the term "android" should be dropped as a generic term and the more logical "humanoid", also a real word, used instead. Android should be used for simulated male robots as a parallel to gynoid. And don't tell me that "humanoid" is already being used for some other entities because it isn't. There are no "humanoids" presently, it is purely a conceptual category.

        • There are no "humanoids" presently, it is purely a conceptual category.

          There are humanoid skeletons, and it's near certain there will be divergent humanoids in the future, be it via genetic engineering, space travel caused isolation, or human die-off leaving isolated pockets.

          And that's neglecting 8 billion humanoids living at this moment -- you meant "non-human humanoids", right?

        • And don't tell me that "humanoid" is already being used for some other entities because it isn't.
          Yes it is. E.g. I'm a humanoid. Not so sure about you, though.

    • How exactly, pray tell, a robot can be a "she"?

      That's how she self-identifies, show respect.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by dissy ( 172727 )

      How exactly, pray tell, a robot can be a "she"?

      The same way my toaster is a she. You can tell from the boobies, obviously.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by tragedy ( 27079 )

      How exactly, pray tell, a robot can be a "she"?

      How can a boat be a she?

  • Thank God for Egyptian security paid for by the $1.5 billion/yr. the USA gives it for its military.

  • A AI R obot (Score:5, Informative)

    by mrclevesque ( 1413593 ) on Saturday October 23, 2021 @05:44PM (#61920955)

    More pictures : https://www.creativeboom.com/n... [creativeboom.com]

    More accurate depiction : https://news.artnet.com/opinio... [artnet.com]

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by gwgwgw ( 415150 )

      The links you supplied were worth the diversion I don't take often enough during my daily /. perusal.

      Thank you for taking the time to present them.

  • The real question is why is the Egyptian military/security worried about espionage on the Giza plateau?

    • The real question is why is the Egyptian military/security worried about espionage on the Giza plateau?

      They get all their superpowers from the pyramids. They don't want that getting into the wrong hands.

    • Re:The real question is? (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Teun ( 17872 ) on Sunday October 24, 2021 @06:20AM (#61921743)
      1. Because they have radar ant anti-aircraft installations all around the city, they are visible to those in the know.
      2. Because many of their ground crew are basically camel jockeys.
      3. Because those higher op in the tree are incredibly corrupt, you pay them off anything goes.

      (All from personal experience.)

  • Yeah that sounds like par for the course for an ordinary autistic person⦠Iâ(TM)m not sure why this is news worthy. In-fact, Iâ(TM)m inclined to say the robot got off easy, I guess she must be really good a masking.

  • Would this get the same hype as Egyptians detain laptop over security concerns? I don't understand how the shape of the plastic around the computer makes any difference.

  • Is this a joke? (Score:4, Funny)

    by MMC Monster ( 602931 ) on Sunday October 24, 2021 @06:05AM (#61921729)

    Are there no Agents of SHIELD fans out there?

    AIDA was the artificial humanoid robot from Season 4 of the show: https://marvelcinematicunivers... [fandom.com]

    This thing looks close enough to her (the actress, Mallory Jansen) that it can't be a coincidence. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm52... [imdb.com]

  • And just *where* did they store it? In a room with other detained items? So a machine capable of video recording and uploading in a sensitive room?

  • An AI robot spy. Ok sure, at the top of s pyrimad. Genius. Ya. Someone needed a bribe.
  • I can't shake the picture of Egyptian authorities shouting, "Stop her, she's a fem-bot!"

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