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from the finally,-a-baby-you-can-play-pass-with...-literally! dept.
Toyota will sell a miniature version of the robot it sent to the International Space Station in 2013 to Japanese customers next year. The demand for robotic companions in Japan is expected to be strong due to an aging population, plummeting birthrate, and more adults choosing to live alone:
Toyota Motor Corp on Monday unveiled a doe-eyed palm-sized robot, dubbed Kirobo Mini, designed as a synthetic baby companion in Japan, where plummeting birth rates have left many women childless. Toyota's non-automotive venture aims to tap a demographic trend that has put Japan at the forefront of aging among the world's industrial nations, resulting in a population contraction unprecedented for a country not at war, or racked by famine or disease.
"He wobbles a bit, and this is meant to emulate a seated baby, which hasn't fully developed the skills to balance itself," said Fuminori Kataoka, Kirobo Mini's chief design engineer. "This vulnerability is meant to invoke an emotional connection." Toyota plans to sell Kirobo Mini, which blinks its eyes and speaks with a baby-like high-pitched voice, for 39,800 yen ($392) in Japan next year. It also comes with a "cradle" that doubles as its baby seat designed to fit in car cup holders.
The robot also requires a 300-yen ($2.95) monthly subscription.
Also at BBC, TechCrunch, and New York Magazine (nice headline).
(Score: 2) by VLM on Tuesday October 04 2016, @01:10PM
"Open the pod bay door, Hal"
"F you Dad (slams door, turns on loud music)"
I remember reading an essay, hard to say how serious or comic it was, probably intentional by the author, that compared the behavior of a HAL9000 to a severely maladjusted teenage boy and suggested if/when we grow AIs if we treat them under Hollywood TV sitcom cultural norms of childhood progressing into rapid teen rebellion then its going to be a serious problem for AI deployment because wisely we as a culture don't depend on teen boys to accomplish much or hold much responsibility but despite decades of hollywood films and tv shows, some idiot is inevitably going to hook NORAD up to an angsty teen boy and its going to be a total disaster.
If it helps anyone remember, the essay wandered into territory probably politically unacceptable today WRT american teen girl stereotypes such that not making boy AI is not a get out of jail free card, specifically I remember something about crying fits over shuttle bays making her aft section look fat (back when that was not supposedly cool like it is now), and the boys only like that other ship because her warp engines are bigger, and she's jealous and angry that space ATC on the stardock talks trash about her to certain groups of girl AIs behind her back and so on. "No daughter of mine is leaving my stardock wearing shields that short" leading to enormous arguments about comparisons to the other starship AI computers, or very similar, was one of the more comic lines.
It was a good essay blending real interesting new issues with outright comedy. I wish I could remember more details. I would guess it was at least 40 years old. Obviously it was slightly trek inspired but back in the old days all AI stuff was kinda trek inspired, so...