Google's Eric Schmidt Says People Want Dish-Washing Robots To Clean Up the Kitchen More Than Any Other Kind (cnbc.com) 277
There is nothing that people want robots to be able to do more than to wash the dishes, according to Alphabet Chairman and former CEO Eric Schmidt. From a report: "When you ask a person what they would like a robot to do, the thing that they would like more than anyone else, is clean up the dishes in the kitchen," the billionaire Google executive says speaking at the Halifax International Security Forum. "That is literally the number one request. And I say this having done this exhaustively," he says. Though you may dream of a robot dishwasher, don't hold your breath for it to happen in the immediate future. "That turns out to be an extraordinarily difficult problem," says Schmidt.
Wait (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, that they admit to, anyway. Sex robots will be #1 on people's "want lists", count on it. Once they're any good.
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Well, not everyone is so hard up in getting a date/spouse as are /.ers.
Re:Wait (Score:5, Informative)
Well, not everyone is so hard up in getting a date/spouse as are /.ers.
I have a spouse. I also have a sexbot. They are not mutually exclusive. So why do I have a sexbot? My wife bought it for me before she went on a 4 month business trip overseas. I told her it wasn't necessary, and that I could stay on the porch without any technological help, but she insisted. She picked out the Sai model [realdoll.com], which actually looks similar to her.
She is back from her trip, but the sexbot is still nice for when she isn't "in the mood". She has an appetite for about 3 times per week, and I prefer about twice that. So the doll makes up the difference.
Re:Wait (Score:5, Insightful)
why isnt there an "eww" mod...
Re:Wait (Score:5, Funny)
Deep Sheep, It had to be Ewe.....
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why isnt there an "eww" mod...
There is, "Informative." If it is too informative, just moderate twice!
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So you're fucking a doll, while your wife is around (not that it's not bad enough that you have a doll at all) ?
That's the creepiest thing anybody admitted, ever.
What happened to good ol' jacking off to internet porn ?
Re:Wait (Score:5, Informative)
So you're fucking a doll, while your wife is around?
I presume you are not married, and never had a GF. Otherwise you would know that "around" is not the same as "available".
What happened to good ol' jacking off to internet porn ?
The bot is way better than that. If real sex is a ten, then online porn is maybe a two. The bot is a five.
Re:Wait (Score:5, Insightful)
My only reservation is that I had the impression that the Real Dolls were dolls rather than robots - not particularly interactive?
This is correct. They are not very interactive. The "real thing" is definitely better (but also more time consuming, with all the foreplay before and snuggling afterwards).
They are putting a lot of resources into R&D, so the technology should improve rapidly.
They are also not cheap. My wife spent about $7k on mine. The "intimate" parts are removable, which makes them easy to clean, but also easy to swap out. So you could share a sexbot with friends and each have private "privates".
Given the market potential, and the huge environmental benefit of reduced population growth, it amazes me that we aren't doing more to develop good sexbots. In the long run, good affordable sexbots could do more to reduce global warming than solar panels on ten million rooftops.
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I suppose you wife's view point is that it would keep you more fit than just masturbating, developing a bit of a paunch, hmm.
Personally, I would rather a sudo make me sandwich bot, it ain't that hard to load a dishwasher and a fresh sandwich at call, hmm, probably makes the exercise provided by a sexbot compulsory, especially toasted sandwiches.
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If you want to see the future of sexbots, you need to look at what is happening in Japan. They are clearly out in front technologically, but Japanese sexbots are mostly not exported. They have a big domestic market since in Japan marriage is a dying institution, and the Otaku culture makes sexbots and virtual GFs more acceptable.
The big future market will be in China and other countries with skewed gender ratios.
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"Otaku culture" doesn't mean sexbots are more culturally acceptable, it just means there is a larger market for them.
Japenese neckbeards do exist, but as here, being so into cartoon or video-game culture that you can't participate in mating rituals is not actually viewed favorably by mainstream culture. That's why they're not exported; they have personal freedom, but exports have to be more culturally acceptable.
Re:Wait (Score:4, Funny)
I had the impression that the Real Dolls were dolls rather than robots - not particularly interactive?
Yes, but I hear neither is Mrs ShanghaiBill, so not really a dealbreaker.
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No, I'd much rather a dish washing robot.
I've never found anyone interested in doing the dishes...
Re:Wait (Score:4, Informative)
We have had dish washing robots for decades.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dishwasher
You can even buy them on Amazon.
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What's the world coming to when people are just too fucking lazy to put the dishes in the dishwasher and turn it on?
It all started when some lazy guy started planting seeds rather than gathering wild roots and berries.
Lazy people, searching for better and easier solutions, are the reason for progress in the world.
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“I choose a lazy person to do a hard job. Because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it.” - Bill Gates
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In the book, "The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master" they talk about the difference between being lazy by anticipating what features people will want to change in the future, and then planning for it to be easy to make the changes.
By doing a little extra work up front that isn't totally forced yet, you can save time overall. Then instead of being totally swamped when changes are requested, you make the changes really quickly and go back to sipping lemonade in the shade.
Good lazy, and bad lazy.
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The funny thing about neo-Luddites is they consider all productivity improvements from the stone age until yesterday to be GOOD. But starting TODAY, all new productivity improvements are BAD.
The GPP is a perfect example of this. He criticizes people as "lazy" because they don't want to manually load their dishwasher. Yet the dishwasher itself is a labor saving device. The only difference is that we already have it.
How about I give up my flush toilet, and you prove you are not lazy by coming over to my h
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A dishwasher isn't a robot in the sense clearly intended.
And it doesn't wipe dishes, including difficult to clean pots and pants, or other non-dishwasher safe dish wear, which is really where the demand is coming from.
If you want to get pedantic, what people want is a dishwasher that can wash every type of dish you'd ever need to wash, at every level of dirtiness. Now that we're approaching something that would have to have the ability to manipulate dishes and make decisions on what to use and how to clean
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We bought a moderate level Whirlpool dishwasher two years ago. Nothing particularly fancy. It can clean pretty much anything off of dishes, pots and pans. The key seems to be an extended spray / soak / spray / soak (rinse / lather / repeat) function that takes several hours but what the hell - it's just sitting there working. It can do that all night as far as I'm concerned.
It really changed my outlook on dishwashers. Previous to this unit we've had to pre rinse and basically wash the damn things befor
Re: Wait (Score:3)
If you want to save yourself the time loading and unloading, this is an easily solved problem with no additional technology required. Certainly not 'robots'.
Buy two dishwashers and two sets of everything you use regularly in the kitchen. One fills up with dirty stuff while you use the other one like a cupboard with clean stuff in. When youve emptied the clean one, its time to run the dirty one.
If you don't have space for two fullsize ones, two slimline ones fit in the same space as one fullsize.
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Most dishwashers are the same now. There's an EU law that requires spare parts to be available for all white goods for 10 years. The unintended consequence of this is that developing bespoke parts is very expensive, because you have to either guarantee production of them for 10 years after the last dishwasher, or stockpile enough that you can guarantee being able to sell them to anyone who asks. That's a huge expense and so now dishwashers are all made from the same set of parts from the same small numbe
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Except that, I think they're talking about a robot that would actually clear the table, too.
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I got a better model. Then the previous model took me to court and got awarded all the funds I had set aside for operating costs.
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They won't understand it as a robot until you give it a mannequin head and some arms. If it could mechanically twiddle its thumbs while it works, they'd be more likely to call it a robot.
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"What's the world coming to when people are just too fucking lazy to put the dishes in the dishwasher and turn it on?"
The dishwasher won't clean all the dishes. We don't put our crystal in it because it doesn't get it clean enough (spots and such) and its chipped / broken some of our stemware in the past; so our best wine glasses etc we do by hand. Its also not effective on some of our taller glasses -- if the kids made chocolate milk in a tall glass, and it sits long enough for the 'chocolatey sludge left
Dishwashers are completely useless (Score:2)
The time it takes to load with the dishes it can actually usefully wash is not offset by the time it takes to manually wash such simple to clean dishes.
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Unfortunately for most people it's not that simple. If you're not running the dishwasher regularly (small household) the dirty dishes can sit in it for awhile. Encrusted food is much harder to clean despite what's advertised. And even with a large household there's also the issue of rinsing dishes before they're loaded. Again that's frequently advertised that that's not necessary - but if that were the case there would be no need for garbage disposals. So the practical realit
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They're also too lazy to put them away afterwards to make room for more dirty dishes!
Pot and Pan washing robot (Score:3)
The real problem is the encrusted/burnt-encrusted (and heavily slimed) pots and pans, which
A) might not fit in the dishwasher along with the dishes, and
B) the dishwasher doesn't work on anyway so you have to do them by hand, with a lot of scrubbing.
That's why they call it a dishwasher, not a pot and pan scrubber.
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The lazy solution is to stop using pots and pans.
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For people who did do that, they should be advised that they've created a plastic polymer out of the repeatedly-heated fats, and what they need to do is fill the pot with water, boil it for 30 minutes, and then scrub it out right after dumping the boiling water out.
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And #2 will be a "sex robot washing robot"
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There's always someone:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Harder than self-driving cars, really? (Score:2)
I want one to fold my laundry too.
Laudry yes! Dishwashing is actually pretty easy (Score:3)
In our house, laundry would definitely be near the top of the list.
A dishwashing machine / robot is actually pretty simple. It's just used slightly differently than the habit most people have. Currently, we put our dirty dish in the sink, perhaps after rinsing it first. A day or two later, we wash / scrub the dried-on food, then put it in the "dishwasher" to finish the job. So five steps done by a human:
1 Rinse
2 Put in sink
3 Scrub dried food
4 Put in dishwasher
5 Put in cupboard
That can be easily reduced t
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I kid, I kid. But they are nice - we have those at the office.
Clarify: skip the sink, put it in the robot (machi (Score:2)
To clarify, I think what most people probably think of for a "dish washing robot" would have the robot clean the dishes that are in the sink. So the human still has to put the dish IN the sink, probably after scraping any big chunks of food into the trash. So that's still the human putting the dish somewhere before the robot does it's job.
I propose that since the human has to put the dish somewhere, they may as well skip the sink and just put the dish into the robot (dishwasher drawer).
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That's my wife's workflow. I think it's silly to scrub every dish and then load the dishwasher, so I put them in fairly filthy and only scrub the occasional one that comes out still soiled. She complains about my method because she doesn't like scrubbing "clean" dishes. Oh, well - married life... at least I put the seat down and fold the laundry fresh out of the dryer.
Incidentally, a dishwasher is a dishwashing robot. I guess people don't want to put the clean dishes away? That seems like a more trivial tas
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So five steps done by a human:
Why would you do step 2 and 3? After you rinse just put them straight in the dishwasher, mine always had no problem dealing with dry residue.
Also if you want to kick it up a notch have 2 dishwashers and alternate them so one always acts as storage for clean dishes and the other for your used dirty dishes. Rinse and repeat!
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Simple solution: wrinkle free clothes.
Laundry - one step better (Score:2)
I want an automatic closet. Throw clothes in it's direction as I undress for bed. In the morning they should be washed, hung or folded as needed, and put away. Done silently, please.
A pretty maid, or houseboy if you swing that way, has multiple extra functions, but is also high maintenance.
Proper kitchen design needs no robot... (Score:2)
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Or run the dishwasher at night, empty it in the morning, and then load dishes during the day as you use them,
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That would be illegal. You could however use Owner/Builder permits, no GC and legal.
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It takes only 5 minutes to load a dishwasher (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:It takes only 5 minutes to load a dishwasher (Score:5, Insightful)
Except that current dishwasher technology is not particularly well suited to all dishes (crystal, china, etc.), nor do they do a good job of getting heavily-soiled pots and pans, or dishes with dried on food clean without pre-washing. Finally, dishwashers are a finite size and will not hold all the dishes from many meals. A well-engineered dishwashing robot will have none of these issues.
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You seem to be thinking the dishwasher is the problem. I say the problem is you and your many types of dishes, pots and pans.
That's like a farmer complaining that his lawnmower can't handle his corn fields.
Re:It takes only 5 minutes to load a dishwasher (Score:5, Insightful)
It's not the dishes - as you say, dishwasher is for that and loading is quick.
How about cleaning up cooking utensils, pots, pans and so on (lots of these, e.g. cast-iron stuff, is not machine-washable). Cleaning up the oven, grill, leftovers, flour that has spread across all level surfaces, bits of dough. Cleaning up after your kids messes up the table by spraying her meal all over the table, or when you yourself accidentally knock that drink to the floor. Cleaning up the fridge after the cheese you've forgotten has decided to start evolving into a new life form. Collecting all the garbage (containers of food ingredients and/or take-out).
Dishes are a solved problem. Cleaning up the other areas of kitchen: Not so much, apart from paying for a housekeeper.
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Exactly. In looking through the comments so far, it appears /. is still inhabited by young, single people that do very little cooking. I estimate the washing of dishes to be at least half of the time to cook (assuming prep and clean, as "cooking" is usually unattended), and even more time when serving multi-course meals, such as holiday meals for a group of people.
Taken to its conclusion, time tending to cooking duties can be cut in half at such gatherings. This is worth a lot of money.
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I don't know what to make of this. Either people are too lazy to even load a dishwasher and just litter the plates all over their house, or maybe there really is not much robots can do for us because our basic needs are already fulfilled by simple household appliances.
It takes far longer than 5 minutes to load a dishwasher, unless you are single and never cook. The process of cleaning pots and pans by hand, rinsing dishes, scraping off tough to clean food, loading a dishwasher, unloading a dishwasher, and putting them away in the cabinets is easily a half hour of effort for a family of four, if not a little longer.
That is a significant amount of work to offload; probably more time savings than dishwashers initially introduced.
I think they just lack imagination (Score:5, Insightful)
Basically there's a lot of folk who can't grok something they didn't personally experience. If you go back and read the book that word grok came from being able to reach those people was a major part of it.
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But then you have to take out the trash more often. Not an easy or fun thing to do in the middle of winter.
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You stay inside all winter? Yucch. I live in Alaska. We still go outside (if only to fight off the Grizzlies trying eat the garbage).
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It's similar to what I do. And since I don't throw food away, it can easily be a month until the trash bag is full.
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It should be more or less the same to cook for one or six people.
Cooking for one: one portion of pasta and one portion of tomato sauce. Cook pasta for 8 minutes and heat tomato sauce for 3 minutes.
Cooking for six: six portions of pasta and six portions of tomato sauce. Cook pasta for 48 minutes and heat tomato sauce for 18 minutes.
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strikes me that much of this could be solved by changing the design of the dishes, dishwasher racks and cabinetry. Make glasses, plates utensils etc. to fit the dishwasher and shed food more easily (less deep, radiused corners, better non-stick finishes designed for dishwashing)
I'm surprised whirlpool doesn't have a range of especially dishwasher-friendly crockery and glassware for "everyday" use
Also, surprised that dishwashers don't come with better removable racks that can be set on a countertop to be fil
Tough, but if you figure that out, you've got it m (Score:4, Insightful)
We already have dishwashers for the washing part, the hard part is getting the robot to collect everything, not break or spill anything, clean the big chunks off, load the dishwasher and run it. Then inspect, unload and put it away.
The good news is if you can build a robot to do that, it should be a no-brainer to get it to do laundry and garbage duties as well. Probably get it to cook too.
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The good news is if you can build a robot to do that, it should be a no-brainer to get it to do laundry and garbage duties as well. Probably get it to cook too.
Well I'd like a chef bot. But something tells me that having a robot quality check that the ingredients that nothing is damaged or spoiled or has any foreign elements adds a whole other layer of complexity. The "base elements" like flour and sugar are pretty static but things like fish and meat, fruit and vegetables vary in size, shape and taste and the cooking needs to adapt but without a nose and taste buds it'll have a problem getting feedback. Nothing that is totally unsolvable but I'd think even big in
Um... buy an expensive dishwasher (Score:2)
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Ah, what you want is a neighborhood association terminator.
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the really nice ones will clean up just about anything except the really big chunks. Give me a robot gardener instead. One that pulls my weeds and keeps the neighborhood association off my back.
A riding mower with a .50 cal machine gun ought to do the trick. Could easily rig up some semi autonomous driving mode to run around and chase people. Bonus points (and lack of jail time) for shooting blanks or tracers.
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Nah, once the jury finds out you only used it on neighborhood association wonks they'll let you off with a warning....to use live rounds next time or else.
The dishwasher robot is not a even a problem, (Score:2)
There should be also a place on each item where robot can take it safely.
But it is not a technical problem, but a social one. Try to explain to people basically from the stone age, especially at leadership positions, what is standardization, unification, etc.
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If we're going to standardize we might as well put RFIDs in the damn things while we're at it, to make the robots easier to make and thus cheaper.
Isn't it called a dishwasher? (Score:2)
Sure, you have to put the dishes in the dishwasher, but that's pretty easy. A dog walking robot might be good, but if I had a dog, I think I'd rather have some time with my pooch. Robots are best at repetitive tasks, but I can't think of much during my day that I would pay multi-thousands to not do. Maybe folding clothes?
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A true dishwasher robot could free an army of several million people from physically and morally hard manual labor.
Better invent universal basic income (Score:2)
to go along with the dishwashing robots then.
I've a dishwashing robot for years (Score:2)
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Which brand/type of dishwashing tablet do you use? It seems to be a problem choosing a good one.
Sounds like an opportunity for Apple (Score:2)
In order for the robot to recognize items properly, however, you'll need compatible plates, utensils, stemware, etc.
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Or smarter AI that can generalize then specialize again.
Dishwasher? But wait there's more (Score:2)
Some fresh sets of eyes would be helpful in tackling security issues and "a new set of brains and talent" is needed.
Schmidt also said getting good at artificial intelligence will be very important to both governments and businesses in the coming years.
He noted there are a huge number of computer scientists coming out of the world's top universities who can provide leadership.
All of which seem much more in line with the
Not laundry? (Score:2)
Go Figure (Score:2)
I have been saying this for almost a decade. (Score:2)
Um, got one already, it has a Bosch brand on it. (Score:4, Insightful)
I just checked under the bench, my "Dishwashing Robot" in a box is still there...
SRSLY, give me a robot that can vacuum and mop floors properly (ie. not like a roomba), or pick up kids toys, or wash dry and iron clothes. That's higher on my list than a robot that does what my dishwasher already does perfectly well.
L8r.
It's not (Score:2)
It's not that. We have dish washers and the few things that can't go in there are washed in no time. Folding the laundry, that's what we want automated.
I can put my dishes back in the cupboard myself .. (Score:2)
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Do you not have any electrical appliances in this wet room kitchen of yours?
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I thought food fights originated from the USA? It's such a wasteful thing to do, it has to be American.
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So what people actually want is robots to take the dirty dishes and put them into the dishwasher, and then press a button?
(and presumably unload and put them away afterwards)
Yes. And to rinse the dishes first, scrape off food which the dishwasher will have trouble cleaning, and most importantly put them away after they are dry.
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