[Endama]

I think robots have an uncanny-valley effect not just in aesthetics, but utility. For example, I actually really like my roomba because it only does one thing: it cleans my floor (when it doesn't get tangled in some cord). However, if there was a humanoid robot that can walk around and possibly knock over something or do something unexpected, I don't want that thing in my house. What prevents some hacker to compromise the robot and have it stab me in my sleep?

Another example is Alexa/Google Home. Some people love the convenience these in-home services provide, but others find the utility itself a liability: is this thing always listening to me and recording me in my home? The robots can do too much, they have too many functions and abilities, which makes me question the intent of the robot.

For robotics to really take off, I think there needs to be a kind of anthropomorphization that needs to happen: the utility of the robot must be high enough that I know that it understands my intention and can respond accordingly; that is to say, that I can have a relationship with my robot.

[jpm_sd]

I 100% disagree with your conclusion. People don't want robot buddies, they want dishwashers. And dishwasher equivalents for other household tasks.

[soared]

People probably made that claim about a ton of other things which turned out false. The best example is music discovery, older generations might've thought "I want to pick my own music, there is no a way a computer could know what I like". But then show them Spotify's discover weekly and they discover 10 songs a week that they live.

[wpietri]

In the short term, I agree. People buy products that solve problems. The human body is not the ideal robotic template for almost any kind of work. The Roomba is excellent proof of that.

But in the long term, I think primate tendency toward dominance means that there's a significant market for people who want to boss around things that can be perceived as other people. I doubt many people want robot buddies, but I'd bet there's quite a market for what are in effect robot slaves.

On the one hand, that seems pretty squicky to me. But on the other, if it keeps them from trying to reduce the freedom of other humans, then godspeed.

[Endama]

I'm saying that if folks out there want robots to become more human-like, they need to be more human-like in intent as well as function. My original statement is effectively agreeing with you that people don't want robot buddies [right now].

[7373737373]

A few of us over at https://letsrobot.tv would strongly disagree

People have lived with their human-controlled robots for months, some even took them shopping. While some stuff got broken, it can be a very engaging experience.

[Loughla]

I think that people want both, but not in the same machine. Having a robot buddy that washes the dishes and cleans your room is too close to having a slave for most people to stomach.

[corndoge]

Sounds like you 100% agree with the conclusion

[eloisant]

I agree - and as a robotics researchers working on humanoid robots told me, if the robot looks too human, users will be reluctant to treat it as a slave and order it around; they'll feel bad about and want to be nice to the robot.

Whereas you never feel bad for making an appliance work 24/7, or to ask your dishwasher to start his work at 11pm.

[atomical]

Alexa doesn't solve 99.9% of housework. I want a robot to make me meals and clean the house. Checking the temperature and listening to music isn't revolutionary.

[x0x0]

I wouldn't mind a robot that unloads the dishwasher.

The problem is I can get a maid that scrubs my apartment 2x a month for under $200/mo, approx $2k/year. So that sets a very harsh price ceiling on assistance robots.

[JohnJamesRambo]

Yes, I was just thinking the other day why can't more robots be like Roomba. It does its task well in a way that enriches my life and makes it easier. Maybe it is because its task is really simple, although it was designed really well also. I specifically live in a house with all hard floors so it can do its job for me, which is kind of interesting. I molded myself around what the robot is most capable of.

[patall]

Wasn't it iRobot that wanted to sell your floor plan (and other household information) to other companies?

[Jhsto]

Other manufacturers as well, which for Xiaomi[0] include: logfiles (syslogs, stats, Wi-Fi credentials) and floorplans.

[0]: https://dgiese.scripts.mit.edu/talks/

[colanderman]

I think this is true of any tool (in my experience, software). "Smart" tools are not useful. Predictable tools are.

[gameswithgo]

when I last had a roomba many years ago I spent as much time picking hair/strings out of the rollers as I would have just vacuuming with a normal vaccuum. Has this improved?

[crazysim]

I think they have tangle free rollers nowadays. Haven't tried them yet though.