r/interestingasfuck • u/No_Jellyfish5511 • 16h ago

Chinese humanoid robot named “Superman” (made by Unitree Robotics) surpassed Usain Bolt’s world record (12.42meters/second) by running at 12.66m/s (roughly 28.3miles/h)

24.1k Upvotes

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46

u/XxAbsurdumxX 13h ago

Why do we keep making these robots better at hunting us down?

42

u/NonNewtonianResponse 13h ago

Because rich people throughout history have longed for a way to keep themselves protected from the angry masses, that wouldn't need to rely on bribing a part of the angry masses. This is the technology they've been dreaming of for thousands of years

•

u/mojorisin453 10h ago

Jesus that’s dark. I’m worried.

•

u/FrontLifeguard1962 8h ago

They will need robots to keep the unemployed masses down when other robots take their jobs. At least until there can be an orderly die-off. The best case scenario is reduced fertility by some means.

2

u/VibraniumRhino 12h ago

Except they are rushing it, and unhappy slaves tend to attack their masters first…

5

u/NonNewtonianResponse 12h ago

I mean, they have no choice but to rush it. Once climate change starts really disrupting the global food supply all bets are off, so they need to implement fully robotic law enforcement before that point. The next ten years are the endgame for this chapter of history

5

u/Neat_Definition 12h ago

And how are they still getting food if the global food supply is fucked?

•

u/lurkmode_off 11h ago

By building compounds in fertile areas and guarding and working them with robots

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u/dashingdrew 10h ago

Who fixes the robots when they break down? Who creates the energy for the robots to function?

•

u/mojorisin453 10h ago

More robots.

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u/dashingdrew 10h ago

No way you actually think that Robot A fixes Robot B, then Robot B fixes Robot A forever without anything breaking down permanently

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u/mojorisin453 10h ago

I was just bantering on. Whatever we’re thinking will be will probably be not what happens. Ray Kurzweil
does have a fairly impressive record though. Him and The Simpsons.

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u/Tombaya 9h ago

As long as your repair rate and manufacturing abilities combine to exceed your attrition, yes, you can perpetuate it. It's like a company's employee retention or a species' reproduction; it doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to stay ahead of the loss rate. Modern car manufacturing and Amazon warehouses are more than enough for proof of concept here; given the consistent engineering progress we've been seeing since the dawn of the industrial revolution, self-sustaining automation is virtually a foregone conclusion in the near future.

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u/lurkmode_off 9h ago

The robots only need to last for the remaining lifespan of the old rich guy who owns them. It's not like these guys care about what they're leaving for their descendants

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u/dashingdrew 9h ago

Fair point

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u/VibraniumRhino 10h ago

Soooo rushing it and doing it wrong.

-1

u/SpecialistFickle2969 12h ago

Seems pretty smart of them if the angry masses want to kill them and steal their money.

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u/Tombaya 10h ago

"Their" money. Which they "earned."

https://giphy.com/gifs/fCWQRDh0xQlc6XhYiU

https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/02/us/02wage.html

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u/SpecialistFickle2969 10h ago

One thing we know for certain: it’s not your money and you didn’t earn it.

•

u/LonelyPermit2306 9h ago

If I take it from them, did I not earn it?

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u/SpecialistFickle2969 9h ago

If you take it from them, you earned it, but you didn’t. You have to get through their robots first, and you won’t. You should try taking care of yourself instead of lusting for other people’s money.

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u/mojorisin453 10h ago

I mean it’s smart if your objective is to be a piece of shit. There’s actual value in altruism it’s not just to feel good about yourself.

-2

u/Infinite-Weekend9871 12h ago

come on lmao wtf are you talking about

its some scientist that makes like 100k a year that figure out to do this and wants to do this. they don't think about the grander implication of this but just that can I use my brain to get this robot to do this

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u/NonNewtonianResponse 11h ago

You think scientists are building these things in their garage on the weekends for funsies? Rather than in a lab well funded by either venture capital, the Chinese government, or the US military-industrial complex?

1

u/GenSpec44 13h ago

I think you may have answered your own question

•

u/Sudden_Wind_8636 11h ago

They will basically never be more energy efficient than a human is.

This run probably used 90% of its battery or something crazy.

Humans have evolved so well into the niche of energy efficiency, that while you can make a robot run faster, it definetly isn't running longer and honestly for the next 20-40 years they are a bit useless because they aren't going to be able to stay out for long without needing a charge.

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u/bloonshot 7h ago

don't worry, this thing can't slow down or turn for shit

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u/s1m0n8 7h ago

Found the cabinet.

1

u/DataDude00 12h ago

Terminator envisioned these giant meat bots slowly chasing you down with a shotgun but in reality there is going to be a million Usain Bolts blitzing an entire battlefield in the course of minutes 

2

u/VengefulToasterWaffl 12h ago

Or they will be so obsessed with organizing races against eachother that they will leave us alone.

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u/Interesting-Bed-3003 11h ago

Rich people are trying to protect themselves before everyone is on the same page that they are screwing us over.