Russia has decided to start the training of one of their space-bound humanoid robots called FEDOR, which is short for Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research, and the training includes shooting guns from both hands.
The creators of the robot claim that this should help with developing its decision-making and motor skills. They’ve also promised that the robot won’t turn out to be a Terminator.
The advancement of the program was even followed by Dmitry Rogozin, Russia’s deputy Prime Minister, as it can be seen by his tweet: “Robot platform F.E.D.O.R. showed shooting skills with two hands. We are not creating a Terminator, but artificial intelligence that will be of great practical significance in various fields.”
Робот платформы F.E.D.O.R. показал навыки стрельбы с двух рук. Идёт работа над мелкой моторикой и алгоритмами принятия решений@fpi_russia pic.twitter.com/jREgpgEy14
— Дмитрий Рогозин (@Rogozin) April 13, 2017
He has also posted a video that shows the robot during one of its training sessions, in which it fires a pair of guns. One of the claims from 2015 says that Mr Rogozin has accidentally shot himself in the foot after posting a tweet of support for America’s National Rifle Association. In answer to these claims, an official statement was made by his office’s spokesperson, who said that the current deputy Prime Minister hurt himself during a game of handball.
So far, the training seems to be going well, and it’s expected that FEDOR will be sent to space during 2021. It’s been said that there’s a possibility that the robot could be the only passenger on the spacecraft.
The developers that have been working on FEDOR are Android Technics and also the Advanced Research Fund, and so far, it has been taught a pretty wide range of many advanced skills that might be needed for its future missions.
For example, it’s perfectly capable of using keys, screwing in light bulbs, driving cars and using many other different tools. The reason for its creation was rescue work, originally, and one of other suggestions made by engineers also included military uses.
Still, there are those who think that developing such a technology is a really bad idea, and many warnings against the AI have been issued over the past several months.
One of these people is Lord Martin Rees, the Astronomer Royal and Emeritus Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics at the University of Cambridge. He recently stated that the machines could potentially take over from us in a few short centuries. One of his beliefs also includes the possibility of electronic alien intelligence, since he thinks that it would be much better suited to travel and explore space than we could ever hope to be.
