One Step Closer to Terminators Walking Among Us

Being a nerd I have to like robots right?  Well I do.  One because I love technology, and two because the idea of them is cool.  But honestly the more I see of the technology progressing the more it makes me worry.  I used to watch this video from Boston Dynamics and laugh.  The dog-like robot looks funny and makes one of the weirdest noises I've ever heard.  It almost doesn't even look real.

Watching this video again today I realize that this is AI; artificial intelligence.  This robot can walk along, detect the terrain it is on, and make judgements on how to make the next step.  No one is controlling it and telling it what to do, the computer inside it makes the decision and makes the legs move accordingly.   

Now they have developed a humanoid form using similar technology.  If you watch any part of this video fast forward to 1:00 and watch the robot balancing on one food as it takes an impact from a 20lb ball.

While I think this is super cool, I also think it is downright freaky at the same time.  Robots that can do basic thinking on their own are already here.  How long until they can do more advanced thinking?  Technology is advancing so fast it is only a matter of time before these are used in our daily lives.  Books like the Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (Blade Runner) and movies like Terminator come to mind.  How many years until robots are self aware?

We live in freaky times.