this post was submitted on 27 Oct 2023

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Boston Dynamics turned its robot dog into a talking tour guide with ChatGPT (www.theverge.com)

submitted 1 year ago by Bebo@literature.cafe to c/technology@lemmy.world

17 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Boston Dynamics turned its robot dog into a talking tour guide using AI as seen in a somewhat unsettling video posted by Boston Dynamics. Boston Dynamics used OpenAI’s ChatGPT API, along with some open-source large language models (LLM) to carefully train its responses. It then outfitted the bot with a speaker, added text-to-speech capabilities, and made its mouth mimic speech “like the mouth of a puppet.”

The version speaking in a British accent and the one of a Shakespearean time traveller had me 😂 but it's certainly a little unsettling overall.

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[–] silverbax@lemmy.world 27 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

As a minor aside to the story, I find it interesting that the devs tried to make the robotic dog 'talk' by opening and closing it's 'mouth' and failed. Cinema such as Star Wars has proven that humans don't need an android or robot to actually move its mouth when it speaks in order to have a conversation.

I also can't help but wonder what has happened at Boston Dynamics - these robotic dogs were/are a wonder, but they aren't new. They are scary with how agile they are, but it doesn't seem like this is anything different than a thousand other 'I integrated Chat GPT into my R/C car' type things that have come out over the past year. Has innovation at Boston Dynamics stalled?

[–] greybeard@lemmy.one 19 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Boston Dynamics YouTube channel has been filled with silly videos. Often times they are duel function. 1. Build brand awareness through fun videos, and 2. Show the versatility of the onboard systems. In this case they are showing of the ability to navigate a real world human environment and the sensors/cameras that can be fed into other systems for advanced decision making and planning.

[–] Bebo@literature.cafe 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Also, the robots embracing the "personalities" was interesting (for someone like me who doesn't have technical knowledge of LLMs etc) as well as entertaining.

[–] KingThrillgore@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago

They also uploaded this video a day after they showed off new functionality on their "Stretch" robot which more directly impacts livelihoods, as Stretch isn't cute. Stretch is meant to replace menial labor.

Spot is cute and proactive. Stretch is what Boston Dynamics is actually selling.

[–] Z4rK@lemmy.world -1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

How do you mean the robots embraced the personalities?

[–] Bebo@literature.cafe 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

From what I understood, a short prompt regarding a personality was provided based on which the LLM generated the lines which were converted into speech conveyed to the listener through speakers. (If some technicalities are incorrect feel free to correct me). I used "embraced" kind of metaphorically. The robots themselves didn't literally embrace a personality.

[–] Z4rK@lemmy.world -1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Then I agree. I guess that’s why I didn’t find this very interesting - you could strap speakers and ChatGPT to anything really, it has very little to do with the robot.

[–] Bebo@literature.cafe 3 points 1 year ago

It's just entertaining, at least on the video.

[–] c0mbatbag3l@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Considering the robot is capable of locomotion and manipulating things with it's arm, it's not impossible to think something like this is the first step toward training an LLM on some specific physical task and giving it the robotics to accomplish the goal.

You seem like the kind of person who hates the idea of AI so you go out of your way to make it seem like it's just soooo boooring to you.

[–] Z4rK@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Lol, I love AI and develop with it almost every day. AI wasn’t the problem here, it was just weird to me that it was Boston Dynamics making this video. It was really surprising tbh. It’s a video I expect from someone doing this on their hobby RC car project or something.

[–] Merwyn@sh.itjust.works 10 points 1 year ago

They are trying to move from "making an impressive video for the show" to "solving actual, real and usefull applications". So this take obviously a long time to produce new results that show this.

[–] Eggyhead@artemis.camp 7 points 1 year ago

Someday we’ll all be dead and robot dogs will be giving tours to nothing. Some alien species will come across our planet and learn all about us through the ways in which the robots interact with nobody.

[–] afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

Robots give me enough problems when they are stationary, I am not looking forward to the day I am dealing with a schizophrenic gazelle made of metal hurtling itself around a factory floor.

[–] Flaky@iusearchlinux.fyi 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yeah but can it pee beer?

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[–] autotldr@lemmings.world 3 points 1 year ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:

In a somewhat unsettling video posted by Boston Dynamics, we see its robot dog outfitted with a top hat, mustache, and googly eyes as it chats with staff members in a British accent, taking them on a tour of the company’s facilities.

Follow me, gentlemen.” As shown in the demo, Spot is capable of answering questions and even opens its “mouth” to make it seem like it’s actually speaking.

To make Spot “talk,” Boston Dynamics used OpenAI’s ChatGPT API, along with some open-source large language models (LLM) to carefully train its responses.

Matt Klingensmith, the principal software engineer at Boston Dynamics, says the team gave Spot a “very brief script” for each of the rooms at its facilities.

“We’re excited to continue exploring the intersection of artificial intelligence and robotics,” Klingensmith writes in a post on Boston Dynamics’ site.

While Spot may sound and look pretty silly during the video, it’s still a bit hard not to think about the dog-like robot’s ability to open doors and spy on people.

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[–] iAvicenna@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

1- Convince the dog to act like a racist bigot insulting you 2- Sue Boston Dynamics 3- Profit