Comment by Qwertious | Hacker News Reader

Comment by Qwertious | Hacker News Reader

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>I don't agree that TinyML is the future, just as I don't think IoT is the future. The future is robot servants. They will be ~human scale and have plenty of power to run regular big ML.

I swear I've read an article on exactly why human-scale robot servants make no sense.

It's something like:

1. Anything human-scale will tend to weigh as much as a human. That means it needs a lot of batteries, compared to e.g. a roomba. Lots more material and lots more weight means lots more cost. 2. Also, they'll be heavy. Which means if they e.g. fall down the stairs, they could easily kill someone. 3. If they run out of power unexpectedly (e.g. someone blocks their path to the charger) then they'll be a huge pain in the ass to move, because they're human scale. Even moreso if they're on the stairs for some reason.

1. Who cares if it needs a lot of batteries? Batteries aren't that expensive. It'll have a lot less than a car, and people buy cars all the time. The utility of these things will be off the charts and even if they cost more than the average car there will be a big market. People will buy them with financing, like cars. And by doing more things they will reduce the need for other specialized devices like dishwashers, further justifying the cost.

2. Yes, robots will need to be cautious around people, especially children. But if it has a soft cover and compliant joints and good software we should be able to make it safe enough. They will not need to be imposing 7 foot tall giants. I expect they will typically be shorter than the average human. Maybe even child size with built in stilts or other way to reach high things.

3. Extension cord? Swappable auxiliary battery? This seems trivial to solve if it turns out to be a real problem. And if you have two (or borrow your neighbor's) they can help each other out.

Just asked the latest gpt preview model to explain why human sized robots make no sense, then why they are the future. In both cases it managed to provide 10 arguments. Some of them are similar, like 'social acceptance' in negative part and 'Sociocultural Acceptance' in positive.

PS: it doesn't accept $500 tips anymore ;)

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