<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">Thanks for the follow-up Steve,</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">Great videos!</div><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><font><u style="color:rgb(33,33,33);font-family:"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16.5px;line-height:20px"><br></u></font></div><div dir="ltr"><font><u style="color:rgb(33,33,33);font-family:"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16.5px;line-height:20px"> </u></font><span style="color:rgb(33,33,33);font-family:"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16.5px;line-height:24.75px"> </span>-- Russ </div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, May 29, 2023 at 9:14 AM Steve Smith <<a href="mailto:sasmyth@swcp.com">sasmyth@swcp.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div>
<p><br>
</p>
<div>Russ -</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I also have a lot of life in my
immediate environment, with a 1 year old puppy and kitty who grew
up wrestling their way through the house and take one another's
cues when it comes to alerting to the birds outside the window and
the moths and flies who are silly enough to be available to these
two little terrorists. The wild things also/moreso, not to
mention the networks of relationships within a
domus/guild/habitat/ecosystem.<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)">While
watching my two little dogs run around our house, it struck
me that a feature that distinguishes living from non-living
entities is the apparent effortlessness with which living
ones navigate the world. Imagine how difficult it would be
to build a robot that could navigate the world so
effortlessly. To make the comparison a bit simpler, imagine
how difficult it would be to build a robotic cockroach. <br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>Mark Tilden's BEAM Robotics and Nervous Nets were pretty
impressive in this regard back 20+ years ago:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BEAM_robotics" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BEAM_robotics</a><br>
</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0921889003001520" target="_blank">https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0921889003001520</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.rssc.org/uploads/4/5/1/1/45118641/buildfest_handout_2006_06_10.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.rssc.org/uploads/4/5/1/1/45118641/buildfest_handout_2006_06_10.pdf</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>I'm not describing these to contradict your main point, rather to
counter-point it? And then there is Theo Jansen's Strandbeest!</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.strandbeest.com/" target="_blank">https://www.strandbeest.com/</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>There is something fascinating about autonomous "agents"
operating outside the context of the von Neumann "Universal
Computing" paradigm. I'm of the spirit to believe that
collectives of interacting sub-universal-complexity elements can
collectively execute Universal Computation.<br>
</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swarm_robotics" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swarm_robotics</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Others here can speak *much* more directly to the arc of
development/evolution of the SFI/Swarm.org work going back 30 ish
years? (I don't know of any specific *hardware*
instantiation/bridge beyond Tilden, et al's work, but there may
well be). There is probably a swarm of tiny origami boats driven
by surface-tension gradients somewhere in Sausalito Bay, doing
performance art or perhaps plotting a world takeover?</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OU76wwmg9Hs" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OU76wwmg9Hs</a><br>
</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.swarm.org/" target="_blank">https://www.swarm.org/</a></p>
<p><a href="https://sfi-edu.s3.amazonaws.com/sfi-edu/production/uploads/sfi-com/dev/uploads/filer/8a/2a/8a2ae001-9ad5-43e6-b7e3-4d951223e9e8/96-06-042.pdf" target="_blank">https://sfi-edu.s3.amazonaws.com/sfi-edu/production/uploads/sfi-com/dev/uploads/filer/8a/2a/8a2ae001-9ad5-43e6-b7e3-4d951223e9e8/96-06-042.pdf</a><br>
</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I started down the rabbit hole of a google search:</p>
<p>and got overwhelmed with how popular the invocation of "Swarm"
has become: Oh well.</p>
<p>Strange Find in Australia: A dopplenymic artist - Christopher
Langton: <br>
</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ27Rphomsg" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ27Rphomsg</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>and a wonderfully apropos-for-the-NFT-moment essay on Virtual Art
which references Chris a lot:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://textinart.files.wordpress.com/2019/12/leonardo-oliver-grau-virtual-art_-from-illusion-to-immersion-2003-mit-press.pdf" target="_blank">https://textinart.files.wordpress.com/2019/12/leonardo-oliver-grau-virtual-art_-from-illusion-to-immersion-2003-mit-press.pdf</a><br>
</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)">When
I asked ChatGPT whether anyone has built a robotic
cockroach, it came up with these examples. (I haven't
checked to see whether these are real projects.)</div>
</div>
<blockquote style="margin:0px 0px 0px 40px;border:none;padding:0px">
<div>
<div class="gmail_default">
<ul>
<li style="border:0px solid rgb(217,217,227);box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;padding-left:0.375em;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:rgb(247,247,248)"><p style="border:0px solid rgb(217,217,227);box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px"><font face="verdana, sans-serif" color="#000000">DASH: The Dynamic Autonomous Sprawled Hexapod (DASH) robot, developed at the University of California, Berkeley, was inspired by the rapid locomotion of cockroaches. It has six legs and can move quickly on various terrains using a simple control mechanism.</font></p></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<div class="gmail_default">
<ul>
<li style="border:0px solid rgb(217,217,227);box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;padding-left:0.375em;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:rgb(247,247,248)"><p style="border:0px solid rgb(217,217,227);box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px"><font face="verdana, sans-serif" color="#000000">Harvard RoboBee: Although not specifically modeled after a cockroach, the Harvard RoboBee project aims to develop small, insect-like robots. These tiny flying robots are inspired by the mechanics and flight capabilities of insects and demonstrate similar agility and maneuverability.</font></p></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<div class="gmail_default">
<ul>
<li style="border:0px solid rgb(217,217,227);box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;padding-left:0.375em;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:rgb(247,247,248)"><p style="border:0px solid rgb(217,217,227);box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px"><font face="verdana, sans-serif" color="#000000">iSprawl: The iSprawl robot, developed at the University of California, Berkeley, was inspired by cockroaches' ability to squeeze through small spaces. It uses a compliant body design and six legs to navigate tight and cluttered environments.</font></p></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<div class="gmail_default">
<ul>
<li style="border:0px solid rgb(217,217,227);box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;padding-left:0.375em;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:rgb(247,247,248)"><p style="border:0px solid rgb(217,217,227);box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px"><font face="verdana, sans-serif" color="#000000">VelociRoACH: Developed at the University of California, Berkeley, the VelociRoACH is a fast-running robot designed to mimic the high-speed locomotion of cockroaches. It utilizes a legged design and has demonstrated impressive speed and agility.</font></p></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr"><font><u><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)"></span></u></font><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0)"></span><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)">These
mainly explore
locomotion. Besides
locomotion,
cockroaches notice
when someone enters an
area where they are
exposed. They quickly
scuttle off to some
hiding place. How do
they sense the
presence of a new
being? How do they
know where the hiding
places are? How do
they know how to move
in the right
direction? How do they
know how to
avoid small obstacles
and fires? Etc. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr"><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><br>
</span></div>
<div dir="ltr"><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)">One
can argue that these
capabilities are
hard-wired in. But
that doesn't make it
any easier. These are
still capabilities
they have, that would
be a challenge to
build.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr"><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><br>
</span></div>
<div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)">I
became amazed at how
well-connected living
entities are to their
environments. They
quickly and easily
extract and use
information from their
environment that is
important to their
survival. </div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)">Man-made
robots have nowhere
near that level of
embeddedness and
environmental
integration. </div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)">Was
it Rodney Brooks who
said that we should
build that sort of
connectedness before
worrying about
building intelligence
into our robots? Today
that struck me as an
important insight.</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<p>I do agree that robotics/AI is a *long way* (but on a different
time-metric than we are?) from "life as we know it" but some of
the AI/Robot-dysphoria comes *from* the "as we know it" clause...
which can be as benign as the "uncanny valley" experience to
something on the order of a literal or merely *literary* "gray goo
scenario".</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.diggitmagazine.com/blog/generative-ai-and-uncanny-valley-and-call-action" target="_blank">https://www.diggitmagazine.com/blog/generative-ai-and-uncanny-valley-and-call-action</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/03/ai-chatgpt-writing-language-models/673318/" target="_blank">https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/03/ai-chatgpt-writing-language-models/673318/</a></p>
<p><br>
</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Mumble,</p>
<p> - Steve<br>
</p>
</div>
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