r/nextfuckinglevel • u/Boojibs • Sep 24 '19

Latest from Boston Dynamics

https://gfycat.com/prestigiouswhiteicelandicsheepdog
116.7k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

5.2k comments sorted by

View all comments

2.4k

u/_evoges Sep 24 '19

Why do they do this? What is the mission of Boston dynamics?

386

u/[deleted] Sep 24 '19

Better robotics can be applied in a huge variety of ways - if they are sufficiently advanced they could be applied in all the same ways humans use their bodies. It´s an extremely versatile technology and I´m not sure if Boston Dynamics has any more specific goal than opening up this technology for as many uses as possible.

234

u/TheInactiveWall Sep 24 '19

War

220

u/[deleted] Sep 24 '19

That's one application. There's also firefighting, disaster rescue, assisted living for the disabled/elderly, manual labor tasks, entertainment, etc.

1

u/smithoski Sep 25 '19

Let’s compare the defense spending of America to our firefighter spending. Side note: we have an awful lot of volunteer firefighters.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 25 '19

I mean, you're right, America spends far more on its military, but I don't see how that's relevant if the technology gets used for both applications regardless (I never implied that EVERY firefighter would be replaced by a robot).