Post B6MRxiaY6PSx7BnVEO by mxchara@seattle.pink
 (DIR) More posts by mxchara@seattle.pink
 (DIR) Post #B6MRBJnCzPS0JPdjou by futurebird@sauropods.win
       2026-05-16T17:13:49Z
       
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       "How will an LLM change the bedpans in the nursing home?""Oh. Robots. Obviously.""... So, you'd say the greatest obstacle to robot home assistance is... what? Software?""Ah. I see why you are skeptical. But you have not considered that the LLM will also design better robots.""Really? That sounds amazing. Can we do it right now?""Two years.""Oh.""...""...""What do you mean. 'oh'?""Nothing. I'm... I'm so excited. For the robots. Like you said.""You're mocking me.""No. I would never."
       
 (DIR) Post #B6MRRX3xQ30A6OCnxI by futurebird@sauropods.win
       2026-05-16T17:16:44Z
       
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       I had a little note in my calendar because this conversation was two years ago.
       
 (DIR) Post #B6MRVJrgQlogKNGowy by mxchara@seattle.pink
       2026-05-16T17:17:24Z
       
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       @futurebird what?! how dare you impede the grand progress of Tesla Optimus towards android servitors with this cheap skepticism! Why there's announcements in Fortune magazine every day about them!!
       
 (DIR) Post #B6MRdGSuxBwE6KTVIG by futurebird@sauropods.win
       2026-05-16T17:18:52Z
       
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       @mxchara Nobody wants a robot that's durable, versatile, powerful and sensitive and not too expensive (and self-repairing, obviously) more than me. It would be so amazing if the problem were software and not software, power, design, everything.
       
 (DIR) Post #B6MRxiaY6PSx7BnVEO by mxchara@seattle.pink
       2026-05-16T17:22:32Z
       
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       @futurebird I like robots too (well the idea of them, with genuinely independent intelligence and personality) but it's very difficult to imagine the current crowd of tech boys to come up with anything better than dubious toys for military and police use (and they'll spend public money on anything)
       
 (DIR) Post #B6MS3kNiLhQKPgfX9M by futurebird@sauropods.win
       2026-05-16T17:23:39Z
       
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       @mxchara "We have a design for a robot, but the parts needed to build it do not exist. We need to use the LLM to design those too now."Real things people have said.
       
 (DIR) Post #B6MSELxDVfCTq3KfCa by resipiscent@sfba.social
       2026-05-16T17:25:32Z
       
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       @futurebird I'd settle for an option to turn off the fake shutter sound whenever any iphone user takes a damn picture. Still waiting. #NoisePollution
       
 (DIR) Post #B6MSscKa2Yy6DJSZ9M by P__X@mastodon.social
       2026-05-16T17:32:47Z
       
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       @futurebird nothing's more exciting than the thought of getting trapped under a 200-pound biped humanoid robot made of hard plastics and metal that tripped while exchanging one's soiled bed sheets.
       
 (DIR) Post #B6MSulk21VLxylOGmm by darkling@mstdn.social
       2026-05-16T17:33:12Z
       
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       @futurebird It's so great that we've got all these helpful robots taking places in care homes now!
       
 (DIR) Post #B6MWYAG76M7dAtsCrw by Guillotine_Jones@beige.party
       2026-05-16T18:13:55Z
       
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       @futurebird Funny how ALL the gen Ai LLM benefits are in the (currently) nonexistent future, a time when all of us will be dead, and none of us will be able to either benefit from it or to do anything about it.We have the misfortune of living in a time when money and marketing-speak talk so loudly that every rational voice is drowned out by the sound of greed.
       
 (DIR) Post #B6MXOK0g5nMSTXWXnk by Jestbill@mastodon.world
       2026-05-16T18:23:21Z
       
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       @futurebird Somehow you have to separate the car enthusiasts from the people who yell "Get a horse", from the grifters and con men.We're pretty sure that LLMs are keen but can't do a lot without some actual AI in control. CAD is old hat; hows about CAD+?Robots? When they show off robots they still point to great new things like ankles(!).  The hardware isn't ready yet.
       
 (DIR) Post #B6MZ70lqZP0zn8SbZo by CStamp@mastodon.social
       2026-05-16T18:42:37Z
       
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       @futurebird And this misses the part about which the robot collects data about your health, personal habits, contacts and passes them along to someone who sells them to 3rd parties. Maybe the 3rd parties actually are linked to the robot.
       
 (DIR) Post #B6MZUFDH2WZpFCMqFU by Fragarach@social.vivaldi.net
       2026-05-16T18:46:49Z
       
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       @futurebird @mxchara It's also design philosophy, so they'll likely design robots that need to be replaced every couple of years with a new, upgraded model. Just like your mobile phone, washing machine and fridge.Douglas Adams, sadly missed, wrote about an SEP(*) field that allows aliens to walk unnoticed among us.That same field is in evidence in the thinking of every techbro, most manufacturers and a large number of politicians, most notably when it comes to climate change, depletion of resources, and the poisoning of our planet with the byproducts of manufacturing and disposal. If anyone is likely to produce a viable domestic robot, my money's on Ukraine. * Somebody Else's Problem
       
 (DIR) Post #B6MaVTFyPZvp2jmLgm by dingodog19@sfba.social
       2026-05-16T18:58:16Z
       
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       @futurebird @mxchara these people have never designed or built anything mechanical in the real world
       
 (DIR) Post #B6MdGGNuHr4mdjvhg0 by futurebird@sauropods.win
       2026-05-16T19:29:10Z
       
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       @nonnihil @mxchara "Robotics is hard.""There are no royal roads to robots."
       
 (DIR) Post #B6MdZ6AqTSdKTSnlTc by futurebird@sauropods.win
       2026-05-16T19:32:33Z
       
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       @nagaram If these people watched ants more they wouldn't be so blithe about robots. I watched an ant carry a feather 15 times longer than her body up a wall into a crack since she was enjoying chewing on the end and didn't want to share with other ants. It would put every human gymnast to shame. It makes every robot look like a joke. But that's millions of years of adaption. I do think we'll make progress, but it will be hard work. Not magic.
       
 (DIR) Post #B6MddvAqnbIXo46UUq by futurebird@sauropods.win
       2026-05-16T19:33:26Z
       
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       @dingodog19 @mxchara They said those words with their mouth. And didn't die instantly of shame.
       
 (DIR) Post #B6MdgUJt6C0BO8YS9o by johnkavs@mastodon.ie
       2026-05-16T19:33:53Z
       
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       @futurebird so let's start laying off people right mow
       
 (DIR) Post #B6MerM2OKeWUqD7H8q by paul_ipv6@infosec.exchange
       2026-05-16T19:47:02Z
       
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       @futurebird @nagaram much of the world probably mistakes "magic" for "someone else did all the hard work".
       
 (DIR) Post #B6MfY8RElmAZ7F8Z3g by ronaldb66@mastodon.social
       2026-05-16T19:54:43Z
       
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       @futurebird This is one of those posts where the comment thread turns into a wonderful read about a tangially related topic, in this case robotics.
       
 (DIR) Post #B6Mg3aJBCQNcWwMfE8 by masp@wandering.shop
       2026-05-16T20:00:22Z
       
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       @futurebird @nagaram off topic, but now whenever I watch a character on Archer say “do you want ants? because that’s how you get ants,” I think of you :)
       
 (DIR) Post #B6Mg6lUg4JdC5eG800 by kludgekml@sunbeam.city
       2026-05-16T20:01:01Z
       
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       @futurebird a sad but relevant point is that taking care of people is so much harder than injuring them, and even our injuring robots are not that great.
       
 (DIR) Post #B6MiOwLaed54s8nqAC by plsik@mastodon.social
       2026-05-16T20:26:42Z
       
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       @futurebird I'm sorry, but I just pictured a robot trying to shove a phone into an elderly person's mouth while saying, "Here's your toast, enjoy." Given the current state of LLM hallucinations, that could easily happen.
       
 (DIR) Post #B6MicvChha83NeJUBM by lienrag@mastodon.tedomum.net
       2026-05-16T20:29:06Z
       
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       @futurebird From what I understand, one problem of robotics is indeed software, as in understanding and implementing real-time coordination of complex movements (things that are obvious to us because we don't even think about it).And AI is indeed a path considered to bring promising results (I mean, considered by people who are actually working on it, not just by bullshit-peddlers).
       
 (DIR) Post #B6MjXMyXdQRHjGbb1s by ferrix@mastodon.online
       2026-05-16T20:39:27Z
       
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       @futurebird I've been wondering about the history of how all these amazing home robots started appearing
       
 (DIR) Post #B6MlzSccR22nG2sF4S by peteriskrisjanis@toot.lv
       2026-05-16T21:06:52Z
       
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       @futurebird that is perfect punch line 😅
       
 (DIR) Post #B6N2aAXEF8gz8wsWYK by futurebird@sauropods.win
       2026-05-17T00:12:47Z
       
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       @bmoreinis @mxchara I'm a huge fan of that book! Well Tchaikovsky in general. https://sauropods.win/@futurebird/113854932949919784
       
 (DIR) Post #B6NkcwSzOx9UMZ1nmq by GoblinQuester@dice.camp
       2026-05-17T08:26:22Z
       
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       @futurebird Yeah, according to Nazi-Altman I my line of work have been completely redundant since last year ... however my work don't seem to got the memo and still needs me every day ... frakking con men and their willing dupes
       
 (DIR) Post #B6Nl7VjqpFcERcUWf2 by electropict@mastodon.scot
       2026-05-17T08:31:50Z
       
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       @futurebird It's not changing bedpans which is the issue so much as application of barrier cream and wiping, and changing diapers when bedpans are no longer an option (which afaik is far more common over most care settings).  And catheterisation.  Things which even supposedly trained humans don't get right often enough.  And then there's making an actual human actually comfortable on a bed when they can no longer move themselves to do it; almost impossible for professional carers.1/
       
 (DIR) Post #B6NxBy1MoS4UllZkS8 by futurebird@sauropods.win
       2026-05-17T10:47:08Z
       
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       @cinebox @dingodog19 @mxchara I'm mostly a school teacher and hobbyist. I was very excited about home automation and one of my more naive early projects was to make it so I could open and close the windows of my apartment via the internet. Then I could make algorithms and save on AC by switching dynamically to open windows based on the wind outside, time of day, humidity and temperature. If you know about windows or motors you are seeing the big flaw and the real problem already. 1/
       
 (DIR) Post #B6NxOthECgUr7YJzPM by futurebird@sauropods.win
       2026-05-17T10:49:32Z
       
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       @cinebox @dingodog19 @mxchara But knowing nothing (this was 15 years ago) I thought "I just need to find a motor that can open and close each window and set it up with wifi and hook it into my self-built home automation system. Do you know how HARD it is to open an window? If you want to open it the way that people do, you need a motor that does not exist. There are systems that can replace the pulleys, but they aren't cheap and installing them is no joke. 2/
       
 (DIR) Post #B6NxbiM7g6zPiJYrNw by futurebird@sauropods.win
       2026-05-17T10:51:44Z
       
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       @cinebox @dingodog19 @mxchara I thought "get a motor to open the window" was a simple matter. It was not.  The best solution seemed to involve changing the whole way windows were designed, so that less expensive motors could reliably open and close the system. A good home aid with notice that a room is stuffy and open the window. Close it when it rains. This isn't their main job function. It's just an extra thing that most "robots" can't do. It's even hard if you purpose build 3/
       
 (DIR) Post #B6Nxn0UqZVtbA51iAS by futurebird@sauropods.win
       2026-05-17T10:53:51Z
       
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       @cinebox @dingodog19 @mxchara When it came to home automation I had much more luck with automatic watering systems for plants. Turning water on and off is something you can do, and it can be very powerful.Since I'm rebooting my roof garden I'm making a new watering system now. Automation can be very hit or miss. Some "easy" tasks are hard. Opening a window? It's a big deal. 4/4
       
 (DIR) Post #B6NxtQAk1UIWWygH5M by Taco_lad@aus.social
       2026-05-17T10:55:01Z
       
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       @futurebird @cinebox @dingodog19 @mxchara linear actuator on an angle or sliding track? Depending on the windows of course.
       
 (DIR) Post #B6Ny4nBqmd5F6ZccC0 by futurebird@sauropods.win
       2026-05-17T10:57:06Z
       
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       @Taco_lad @cinebox @dingodog19 @mxchara It turns out many windows are designed to be hard to open so that ... people don't rob you. And our windows are old. It might have been easier with newer windows, but I would need to replace all of the windows. OR make ugly 3D printed inserts that I could control. (I considered this, but it was too ... solarpunk in a bad way)
       
 (DIR) Post #B6Ny8TXhm42TKNbHua by GoblinQuester@dice.camp
       2026-05-17T10:57:46Z
       
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       @futurebird creating a remote watering system is on the todo list for my "new" house, but a bit below, getting a new roof and fix the cimney
       
 (DIR) Post #B6NyMuAbZSM1xufyfA by Taco_lad@aus.social
       2026-05-17T11:00:18Z
       
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       @futurebird @cinebox @dingodog19 @mxchara ahh. Yeah we have chain wind windows so a decent low speed high torque would be fine for us, or for the sliding ones, a linear actuator would be fine.
       
 (DIR) Post #B6NykqozfkQcWuzBeC by sabik@rants.au
       2026-05-17T11:01:44Z
       
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       @flippac @lienrag @futurebird I mean, you can see that the ones with the nunchucks just wave them about and never catch themAll it really shows is bipedal balance
       
 (DIR) Post #B6NyksGKJbt0zymWtE by futurebird@sauropods.win
       2026-05-17T11:04:36Z
       
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       @sabik @flippac @lienrag Bipedal balence is impressive. I'm impressed with the ankle joins. ankle and wrist like joints are hard. Though the feet do not flex which means these robots cannot really walk the way that humans do. Foot flex is so powerful and subtile. Most animals have that joint much higher up, what do we get by making it so short? (it's not nothing. )
       
 (DIR) Post #B6NzTK0KX4epmSUfaK by jerzone@techhub.social
       2026-05-17T11:12:41Z
       
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       @futurebird @cinebox @dingodog19 @mxchara We experimented with a window "robot". No messing with cords, just 3d prints to mount a long threaded rod driven by a motor that lifted/pulled down the shade.When we finally got it all rigged up the kid and I got to learn about thread pitch and how glacially slow it moved the shade. The setup was fine for a 3d printer's Z axis, not so much for a 3' tall shade.
       
 (DIR) Post #B6O0MTwLIFZWWSvmBU by kigelia@mastodon.online
       2026-05-17T11:17:07Z
       
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       @mawhrin @futurebird As someone who visits care homes regularly I really don’t see robots having much impact. I also wonder how often they need repairing/charging/replacing over, say, a 40 year lifespan?Let alone dealing with the emotional side of working in care homes, especially for those with the varying forms of dementia. These jobs are the ones we should value way higher in society.
       
 (DIR) Post #B6O0MUubgBmHXN7u7M by futurebird@sauropods.win
       2026-05-17T11:22:39Z
       
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       @kigelia @mawhrin "These jobs are the ones we should value way higher in society."Exactly. These jobs should pay more, and be among a collection of stable and respected jobs that people would aspire to getting. There is still a little of this respect for nurses and doctors, but it's something we need to renew. These are positions with power and authority and you need to be a certain kind of person worthy of deeper trust to do them well. It's not something you post on "fiver"
       
 (DIR) Post #B6O0VNbsCLBfUpbDuq by NatureMC@mastodon.online
       2026-05-17T11:13:06Z
       
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       @darkling I was creeped out by our news showing a robot powered by an genAI chatbot "working" in a nursing home in Germany. My only big thought was: please let me get dementia *before* I have to talk with such an idiotic stochastic parrot to think I had a "friend".Since then my idea is that my generation needs hacker communities in nursing homes. @futurebird
       
 (DIR) Post #B6O0VOSL3H9e7Y97h2 by futurebird@sauropods.win
       2026-05-17T11:24:15Z
       
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       @NatureMC @darkling " I was creeped out by our news showing a robot powered by an genAI chatbot "working" in a nursing home in Germany. "Your news was doing free advertising, and free advertising of vaporware and things that just don't exist.
       
 (DIR) Post #B6O0zsxYCn7tPfHjk0 by NatureMC@mastodon.online
       2026-05-17T11:29:48Z
       
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       @futurebird Believe me, it was no advertising. It was a very critical journalistic piece about the high costs of a metallic can talking like an idiot versus "we need less humans" (and they have problems to find care workers). And the elder people joining that experiment laughed out loud ('my teddybear listens better') or were creeped out, too. @darkling
       
 (DIR) Post #B6O15b5xXOC1kFwRzk by futurebird@sauropods.win
       2026-05-17T11:30:52Z
       
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       @NatureMC @darkling That's good to hear. I've seen "coverage" of "new tech" that was just... glazing.
       
 (DIR) Post #B6O1NFXmP4Ty7LN7FA by NatureMC@mastodon.online
       2026-05-17T11:34:02Z
       
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       @futurebird We had that, too, after the pandemic, with robot servants in restaurants. We never heard again about one of these 'machines' and most of these restaurants have closed. People prefered the real machines: the pizza vending machine.  @darkling
       
 (DIR) Post #B6O1eYrjon0Mxxxhp2 by futurebird@sauropods.win
       2026-05-17T11:37:11Z
       
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       @NatureMC @darkling A pizza vending machine would be viable but it's hard to keep it working. Dough gets in the gears, if you know what I mean. There have been several attempts to do this and the closest one to working used frozen pizzas, but people won't pay much more for a heated frozen pizza. The more complex machines? They needed too much service. You end up asking "instead of fixing the machine... why don't I just make the pizzas?"
       
 (DIR) Post #B6O1rR2eDdtCStCgcK by futurebird@sauropods.win
       2026-05-17T11:39:31Z
       
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       @NatureMC @darkling They keep tricking people by making nontrivial problems seem trivial and it works because we do not value and respect labor enough. When a home nursing aid notices that your mother's room is too stuffy, and she opens the window without even thinking about it, because it's just a natural thing to do she is doing something simple but in her movements there is grace and power automated systems are still struggling to capture. Can we recognize that?
       
 (DIR) Post #B6O2AAxsDWVi6ZuHVA by mavu@mastodon.social
       2026-05-17T11:42:52Z
       
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       @futurebird @sabik @flippac @lienrag if i imagine climbing trees with a longer lower foot, I'd say its for climbing trees.
       
 (DIR) Post #B6O2hXFmMvbQmyBmWO by petealexharris@mastodon.scot
       2026-05-17T11:48:54Z
       
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       @futurebird @kigelia @mawhrin The hard necessary jobs should pay better than the easy optional ones. I'd rather be a software engineer only paid like a nurse than a nurse even paid like a software engineer.
       
 (DIR) Post #B6O3LSHSHGXqwt0ZFY by futurebird@sauropods.win
       2026-05-17T11:56:06Z
       
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       @graham_knapp @NatureMC @darkling I think we will get studies to support this soon. But I don't think that an automated system can replace human contact in the long term. Because the function of human contact is about building relationships, about finding your place in your local social order and a chat bot isn't a part of that order.
       
 (DIR) Post #B6O3WnNo9wKxaAO4Fk by futurebird@sauropods.win
       2026-05-17T11:58:12Z
       
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       @graham_knapp @NatureMC @darkling The feeling that you are connected to other people has a huge impact on health, but the "feeling" part has short term benefits, the longer term benefits are more material. Yes, talking to a chat bot might make a depressed person feel better for a day or two, but talking to a real person has other long term impacts that having a "chat" implies without delivering. We need other people. We need to need other people too. I can't believe this is a debate.
       
 (DIR) Post #B6O3j9L8LlLF9h1kQq by futurebird@sauropods.win
       2026-05-17T12:00:25Z
       
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       @graham_knapp @NatureMC @darkling So, to answer your question, might it "help" to turn on a chat bot when granpa is alone? Maybe. Maybe it has a benefit for a bit. But I expect that as people are exposed to the tech more the fact that it's not real will lead to diminishing returns.Yes, in "Survivor" it helped Tom Hank's character to talk to the volleyball.  But we can't expect more than that. And maybe talking to a volleyball is more healthy and honest.
       
 (DIR) Post #B6O3vChdfkCL3oIlii by futurebird@sauropods.win
       2026-05-17T12:02:36Z
       
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       @graham_knapp @NatureMC @darkling Part of why talking to someone makes you feel better is that at some level you know that if things were even worse that real person might come and help you in real life. "I'm here if you need me."A chatbot cannot say this. It's not "there"
       
 (DIR) Post #B6O7fMGMlB2rtUFEbA by quizzicus@mastodon.online
       2026-05-17T12:44:30Z
       
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       @futurebird @cinebox @dingodog19 @mxchara Though I've found that even turning water on and off depends on a pressurized water supply, which isn't necessarily something you want if you're gong to be away for awhile. Though this may be more of a SFH problem.
       
 (DIR) Post #B6O8DaIt3zuvHnkD8S by Max@corteximplant.com
       2026-05-17T12:50:42Z
       
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       @futurebird A huge thank you for this amazing thread. It has been a joy and education to read over my morning coffee.A concern it raises for me, in addition to the many already stated, is that the financial cost of getting to the working bedpan biped bot could be far better spent solving the problem in other more human respecting ways if it wasn't for AI grifting. Add to this the massive environmental impact of the infrastructure needed to power the processing of these tottering piss porters, along with their construction and disposal, and I find myself wondering when did we stop writing business plans and tossing the bad ideas? You know they'd be on a subscription plan and the enshitification would fast follow.
       
 (DIR) Post #B6O96VwIzVdhg5NGoC by kbob@chaos.social
       2026-05-17T13:00:35Z
       
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       @futurebird Um, my mom is in assisted living now, and I see one LLM use.  The common area TV is often tuned to a Midjourney-generated screensaver channel.  Some of the dementia residents will give it their full attention for hours.Indescribably sad.
       
 (DIR) Post #B6OBXSwaR5oo7AU96O by jerzone@techhub.social
       2026-05-17T13:27:54Z
       
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       @futurebird @cinebox @dingodog19 @mxcharaI've been watching Aaed designing robot dogs for a few years. His latest capstan drive is pretty cool, but there's always something. "Cara, would always turn left when she tried to walk straight." https://youtu.be/GFLa1b1juUo
       
 (DIR) Post #B6OFUTMgoWKYMtWTgm by jayalane@mastodon.online
       2026-05-17T14:12:12Z
       
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       @futurebird @graham_knapp @NatureMC @darkling that's a real east coast ethos. In California, among non-immigrants, the assumption is neighbors will give advice but let you starve and be eaten by cats (maybe I am exaggerating but it feels like this). In Maryland, my neighbors broke into my house and leave our post-partum household a vat of soup on the stove.
       
 (DIR) Post #B6OFeomO3AkzgDTYEi by grumpasaurus@infosec.exchange
       2026-05-17T14:14:04Z
       
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       @futurebird @graham_knapp @NatureMC @darkling a chatbot can say whatever can be said, no different from empty words of any human
       
 (DIR) Post #B6OHM7WWKsU0DhGZSS by Jestbill@mastodon.world
       2026-05-17T14:33:03Z
       
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       @futurebird @sabik @flippac @lienrag Building humanoid robots to understand what "humanoid" actually means.
       
 (DIR) Post #B6OHP1pByqN5PjO1YG by marymessall@mendeddrum.org
       2026-05-17T14:30:51Z
       
       0 likes, 1 repeats
       
       @graham_knapp @futurebird @NatureMC @darkling I visit nursing homes a lot -- both father and my mother in law and my father live in skilled nursing facilities. Few of the rooms are quiet. Most of them (almost all double occupancy) have TV's on, with talking heads chattering away 24/7.I think when I'm that age it'll be audiobooks and podcasts for me (it kinda already is.) Not as healthy as real human contact, but parasocial relationships can still be meaningful. My favorite podcasters don't know I exist except in an abstract way as an audience member. But I do care about them. They are keeping me company, in a way. And while they are not making their content for me, specifically, they are making it for an audience that includes me. It's a limited relationship but the terms are clear.With a chat bot says "how are you feeling today?" and "I'm glad to hear it!" that might FEEL like a more personal relationship. But the chat bot is not actually glad. It does not actually care. The feeling of personal connection is an illusion. And the disillusionment when you thought someone cared and it turns out they don't? That's the worst feeling. Just brutal.TLDR; I think parasocial relationships with TV presenters and podcasters are healthier and more emotionally fulfilling than empty "relationships" with chatbots that act like they care,  it actually don't.And podcasts and TV presenters are already keeping people in nursing homes company.(Also, full credit to nursing home workers... they come in about every half hour during the day shift, for one reason or another, in my experience. If hours go by, it's probably an assisted living rather than a skilled nursing facility.)
       
 (DIR) Post #B6OQmBwTQfmP2ZucOe by kevingranade@mastodon.gamedev.place
       2026-05-17T16:18:36Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @futurebird @cinebox @dingodog19 @mxchara very much not easy,  but that makes me wonder about hydraulics.  You can get incredible leverage ratios with piston ratios, and you really don't want/need climate controls like this to be fast anyway.
       
 (DIR) Post #B6OUIGLQtb5lp9ZSLY by Catfish_Man@mastodon.social
       2026-05-17T16:58:03Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @futurebird @cinebox @dingodog19 @mxchara reminds me a bit of this classic about game dev https://lizengland.com/blog/the-door-problem/Except with “exists in the real world” making everything vastly harder
       
 (DIR) Post #B6Q8YsyFF9yTZvAMIi by NatureMC@mastodon.online
       2026-05-18T12:03:59Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @futurebird Just a little explanation for our French pizza vending machine in France: It has nothing to do with LLMs or robotics and is a success.Like many, I live in a rural region where we have nearly no restaurants/diners left after the pandemic (only one where you pay for one person/menu 800 EUR).So one of the very good pizzerias in a town had the idea of installing a vending machine. The pizzas are prepared freshly in their restaurant. 2x a day they fill up the station with@darkling
       
 (DIR) Post #B6S4fil3bLrYQlvBKK by futurebird@sauropods.win
       2026-05-19T10:29:45Z
       
       0 likes, 1 repeats
       
       @helianthropy @nagaram Larger ants will be able to notice you as a distinct creature, but to tiny ants we are just like bad weather or some kind of natural disaster. We're too big to matter in a way.
       
 (DIR) Post #B6VNKne8iEMw78IqZc by glasspusher@beige.party
       2026-05-21T00:43:03Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @futurebird @helianthropy @nagaram Hopefully not Too Big To Fail