Because trouble comes in all sizes.
The 2023 NY Toy Fair taking place was of historic significance in of itself. The last one was held in February 2020 right before COVID collectively wreaked havoc on the entire planet. What had been a highly anticipated annual Toy industry event at the Jacob Javits Convention Center had been canceled thereafter. That is, until this year.
My first introduction to artificial intelligence was courtesy of The Jetsons. Rosy the robot, a wise-cracking maid and babysitter, brought humor, empathy and joy to her wacky human family. The comedic droids in Star Wars reinforced the idea of artificial intelligence equating to sidekicks rather than adversaries. Indeed, C-3PO and R2-D2 played a central role in the success of the rebellion. Yet science fiction movies such as 2001, The Terminator, and The Matrix foretold of a different reality. They envision a world where sentient machines threaten the very existence of humanity. A time in which AI supersedes the intelligence of humans.
The idea of a Robot as a mortal enemy to humanity has been featured in numerous works of science fiction. Yet with ground-breaking technological advances in the 21st century, science fiction has begun the transformation to reality. Boston Dynamics, a cutting edge robotics research company, creates a variety of robot prototypes. They range from big to small in size as well as animal-like or humanoid in design. A recently released video features our original robot overlord Atlas, the next generation humanoid robot. Atlas endures harsh physical treatment by its human handler. This does not bode well for the existence of humanity. Breakthroughs in artificial intelligence could produce sentient robots capable of revenge. Indeed, historians may recognize this video as the moment humans started the robot wars.