• Facebook Files Patent for a Robot, But Why is Anyone’s Guess

    Facebook Files Patent for a Robot, But Why is Anyone’s Guess

    Facebook has recently filed a patent for a “self-balancing robot that transitions from a three-wheeled mode to a two-wheeled self-balancing mode”.  Does this make any sense to you?  To date, we typically haven’t seen Facebook bringing us much by way of hardware, so what they intend to do with this are a bit vague.  They…

  • Will Artificial Intelligence Take Away Jobs?  Or Do We Need to Adapt?

    Will Artificial Intelligence Take Away Jobs? Or Do We Need to Adapt?

    Donald Trump has recently claimed that robots are at least another 50-100 years from taking jobs away from humans.  But I’m not sure that he has his numbers correct.  But I guess it is all about how we define “robot”.  Another term that is synonymous with “robot” is “artificial intelligence”.  And are they really different?…

  • Are Robots as Canadian Border Agents A Good Idea or a Case of Big Brother?

    Are Robots as Canadian Border Agents A Good Idea or a Case of Big Brother?

    Robots might be the next frontier.  Especially for Canadian Border Services who are testing a new system called “Automated Virtual Agent for Truth Assessments in Real Time” or AVATAR.  The purpose behind this testing is to come up with a way to determine if someone is telling the truth when they cross the border.  The…