Are
we
in
an
AI
bubble?
Are
we
not
in
an
AI
bubble?
Round
and
round
the
blabbering
goes,
with
artificial
intelligence’s
use
case
for
the
masses
failing
to
progress
beyond
wasting
more
of
our
time
and
spreading
lies
more
efficiently.
There
are
certainly
some
niche
areas,
including
in
the
medical
and
legal
professions,
where
bespoke
AI
technology
is
already
making
things
easier
for
practitioners.
Yet,
the
bulk
of
the
media-facing
AI
field
is
full
of
tech
charlatans
stumbling
all
over
one
another
to
create
the
first
humanoid
robot
that
isn’t
a
useless
piece
of
shit.
The
latest
example
is
a
video
released
by
the
Chinese
robotics
company
EngineAI.
In
the
short
film,
EngineAI’s
humanoid
T800
robot
delivers
a
devastating
kick
to
the
padded
chest
of
the
company’s
CEO
Zhao
Tongyang
(“This,
is,
SPARTA!!”).
Zhao
Tongyang
crumples
to
the
ground.
Well,
hey,
that’s
fun.
Kids,
it’s
cool
to
cave
in
the
sternum
of
any
tech
CEO
(this
is
not
legal
advice).
Seriously,
though,
why
on
earth
would
we
need
a
kickboxing
robot?
It
seems
like
getting
brutalized
by
one’s
robot
would
be
the
opposite
of
what
the
average
consumer
would
want.
Even
if
you’re
thinking
military
applications,
we
already
have
plenty
of
drones
armed
with
missiles
and
machine
guns,
which
experts
agree,
are
more
deadly
than
martial
arts.
Then
there’s
Elon
Musk’s
Optimus,
which
he
just
seems
to
have
gotten
caught
operating
remotely
via
a
human
controller
at
an
event
meant
to
showcase
Tesla’s
autonomous
technology.
Let’s
just
say
this
Optimus
had
not
flopped
down
onto
the
ground
after
removing
a
phantom
virtual
reality
headset:
all
it
was
doing
in
the
first
place
was
pouring
drinks
and
pretending
to
converse
with
people.
Ugh,
like
half
the
reason
for
going
to
a
bar
is
to
talk
to
an
actual
person
and
engage
in
some
harmless
flirtation
with
the
bartender.
If
you
want
your
drinks
dispensed
by
a
machine,
you
can
already
get
that
at
any
number
of
fast
foods
joints.
However,
when
it
comes
to
mimicking
the
human
experience
of
sharing
a
few
drinks
with
someone,
I
suppose
this
Optimus
did
get
the
crashing
to
the
floor
at
the
end
of
the
night
part
right.
This
whole
humanoid
AI-powered
robot
fad
is
a
classic
example
of
big,
out-of-touch
corporations
telling
consumers
what
they
want
instead
of
asking
consumers
what
they
want.
Case
in
point:
a
recent
survey
found
that
although
Americans
do
tend
to
prefer
at
least
a
vaguely
human
shape
in
their
household
robots,
what
they
actually
care
about
most
is
that
a
robot
can
get
things
done
around
the
house,
especially
cleaning.
As
someone
who
once
spent
a
tremendous
sum
on
a
Roomba
as
a
gift
for
an
ex-girlfriend
(to
be
clear:
I’m
not
currently
out
there
giving
my
ex-girlfriends
lots
of
gifts,
that
would
be
weird
—
we
were
together
at
the
time),
I
can
tell
you
that
robot
cleaning
technology
still
leaves
a
lot
to
be
desired.
The
Roomba
was
OK,
I
guess.
It
was
fun
to
force
the
cat
to
ride
around
on
top
of
it.
But
by
the
time
you
repeatedly
empty
the
dust
and
dirt
out
of
the
thing,
save
it
from
all
the
times
it
nearly
falls
down
the
stairs
or
gets
hung
up
in
between
rooms,
unwind
all
the
little
stringy
things
from
it
that
it
tangles
up
within
its
innards,
and
vacuum
yourself
in
all
the
hard-to-reach
places,
I’m
not
sure
you’re
really
saving
yourself
any
labor.
Look,
human
beings
are
generalists.
We
can
do
a
great
variety
of
things
semi-competently.
We
can
take
a
lot
of
stairs
before
we
inevitably
fall,
for
instance,
as
masters
of
bipedal
motion.
But
robots
are
specifists.
No
human
can
pound
bolts
quite
as
specifically
as
a
robot.
We
are
at
least
a
couple
generations
away
from
a
robot
repeating
your
whole
day
as
competently
as
you.
Anyone
who
says
otherwise
is
a
pirate.
In
the
meantime,
why
don’t
we
try
to
create
one
that
can
clean
the
damn
john
all
on
its
own?
Jonathan
Wolf
is
a
civil
litigator
and
author
of Your
Debt-Free
JD (affiliate
link).
He
has
taught
legal
writing,
written
for
a
wide
variety
of
publications,
and
made
it
both
his
business
and
his
pleasure
to
be
financially
and
scientifically
literate.
Any
views
he
expresses
are
probably
pure
gold,
but
are
nonetheless
solely
his
own
and
should
not
be
attributed
to
any
organization
with
which
he
is
affiliated.
He
wouldn’t
want
to
share
the
credit
anyway.
He
can
be
reached
at [email protected].