Atlas Robot Overcomes Bullies at Boston Dynamics With Parkour

Engineering company Boston Dynamics has released a video of its famous Atlas robot leaping up stairs.

In the video titled: “Parkour Atlas,” Atlas utilizes ‘computer vision’ to analyze its surroundings, jump over a log and then climb a wooden structure.

“Atlas does parkour,” the YouTube video’s description says. “The control software uses the whole body including legs, arms and torso, to marshal the energy and strength for jumping over the log and leaping up the steps without breaking its pace.”

The company expresses its robot uses “computer vision” to analyze its surroundings, allowing it to accurately traverse different terrains.

Presentations from the company have not only revealed the ability of Atlas to run and jump but to perform back-flips.

If you are feeling a sense of déjà vu from hearing the name Atlas, it may be because this is the same robot (or at least a previous software/hardware iteration) which was bullied and pushed over.

This is the beginning of The Terminator movie, as even scientists agree that machines will begin to think for themselves in the near future and could be a threat to the human race.

One such famous scientist, Stephen Hawking, has previously warned “artificial intelligence could spell the end for the human race If we are not careful enough because they are too clever.”

Even if robots don’t overtake the human race, they will at least take over our jobs. Activist Post has continued to report about new developments like construction and farming robots, Angus and HRP-5P, being created to replace workers in the aforementioned industries.

In May, Activist Post reported that University College London Hospitals (UCLH) and the Alan Turing Institute aimed to bring ‘game-changing’ benefits of artificial intelligence to NHS patients and replace some workers in the hospital.

Recently Activist Post also reported that even finance wasn’t safe from the robot apocalypse. China Construction Bank (CCB) opened a Shanghai branch run entirely by robots in a testing phase for finance with little to no human involvement.

Robots are beginning to take over every aspect of society. They are also headed for retail businesses delivering freight and eliminating truckers. But, again, robots malfunction. In fact, it sounds quite dangerous allowing a freight truck to drive itself; if the sensors break down on a big rig truck going 60-70 MPH, that’s potentially 40 tons barreling down the highway unattended except by artificial intelligence.

As Activist Post reported back in March, Uber had to halt nationwide testing of its A.I. vehicles following the death of a pedestrian in Arizona. And that was a car actually attended by a human backup operator.

Automation clearly isn’t a foolproof technology, and it can also be exploited by hackers for malicious purposes that could even include programming a bot to kill an individual.

Meanwhile, Activist Post recently reported that Amazon is considering opening 3,000 cashierless Amazon Go stores by 2021. A move into retail by the online giant would threaten convenience stores and fast-food chains across the U.S. by selling items to customers cheaper and faster. The other negative is that Amazon could start the “robot apocalypse.” Current existing Amazon Go stores sell prepared sandwiches, salads, yogurt, and granola bars. That’s a market that is mostly occupied by small mom-and-pop convenience stores.

With robots like Atlas, Angus, and HRP-5P threatening various industries, employment will become scarce for those of us with limited abilities in human flesh suits.

All this highlights what Elon Musk has warned, that a universal basic income (UBI) — essentially free cash handouts — “will be necessary over time if (AI) artificial intelligence takes over most human jobs.”

Aaron Kesel writes for Activist Post. Support us at Patreon. Follow us on Minds, Steemit, SoMee, BitChute, Facebook and Twitter. Ready for solutions? Subscribe to our premium newsletter Counter Markets.