[ba-unrev-talk] Robot horses for herding intelligent machines
The discussions of intelligent-machine/human
interfaces don't generally transcend our customary
categories of computers and anthropoid robots.
History suggests some other possibilities. For
6000 years horses were the major intelligent entity
providing humans with with extra power and speed.
Until the invention of the internal combustion engine
they were used widely for general transportation,
herding, plowing, and combat. (01)
A wide variety of intelligent machines are being
designed with widely varying sizes, mobility, and
transducers. Robotic "horses" would be very useful
for dealing with these constellations of machines.
I am, of course, referring to "horse" in its
functional sense, rather than in external form.
Thus, it would look more like an augmented
wheelchair than an animal. It would provide transport
at a building and neighborhood range, would provide
power for tools, and would have a computer-human
interface. In conjunction with wireless
communications and human hands, it would provide a
general purpose arrangement for herding intelligent
machines, especially those not confined to the
constraints of our campuses and production lines. (02)
larens (03)
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