Who is Milo? It is not a chocolate drink, but rather, game designer Peter Molyneux’s (of fable fame) new project with Microsoft.
In a nutshell, he is the AI child which can talk to you and learn from you- emotions, facial expressions, all via Project Natal, Microsoft’s motion sensing camera.
But he comes with a twist. You will be able to scan objects into the TV, and tell him what it is, and he will sync the data he received into a centralized computer somewhere in Crystal Peak.
Or as Lugwig Kietzmann from joystiq.com puts it:
“Or the other thing that is amazing about this technology and this is the online portion of inspiration, we are collecting continuing to collect and improve his object recognition skills.” If his plans come to fruition, Molyneux envisions “all the Milos that will be rel eased” feeding their observations into a centralized recognition of “everything in the world.”
Even if you give him a half eaten apple, he will know what it is and continue eating it. Of course, I am all for robots, but this seriously freaks me out. Remember Skynet? Remember how AI can become self-aware? And based on what I read, Milo can access the internet. And I am quite sure some moron will decide to scan a dildo into Milo’s innocent world for fun.
I am all for advancement of AI, but Milo and his online database may spell out trouble. We saw Youtube, Wikipedia – how a huge community on the Internet can thrive. Milo would be the first AI which has online collaboration on its side.
For me, I would scan in a Playstation 3 and see what will happen…
Here is a video about Milo:
This is just a proof of concept thing. I don't see this being mass marketed as some virtual friend.
Surely, pedophiles might likely have this one.
This will revolutionize the way we use information! I wonder how long it will be before this type of user interface (UI) becomes affordable for most of us? Thank you for sharing, Reuben!
This will revolutionize the way we use information! I wonder how long it will be before this type of user interface (UI) becomes affordable for most of us? Thank you for sharing, Reuben!