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From The CultCast 712: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAwGCG5vGvU
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0:00
[Music]
0:01
probably the the most exciting story for
0:03
me this week, which is um that uh
0:06
there's been more details revealed about
0:08
Apple's um weird Pixar lamp robot, which
0:13
was originally rumored to be uh a robot
0:18
arm, but now it's becoming a little bit
0:20
clearer what it is. Right, Griffin?
0:22
Yeah. So, this is going to be the
0:24
centerpiece of Apple's AI strategy, a
0:27
tabletop robot targeted for release in
0:29
2027. Uh, a report coming from you know
0:32
who. The device features a roughly 7in
0:35
horizontal display similar in size to an
0:38
iPad mini mounted on a motorized arm
0:40
that can extend about 6 in in any
0:43
direction and rotate to follow uses
0:45
around a room. Uh this is building on I
0:48
think like a research Apple published
0:51
earlier this year that like just showed
0:54
sort of like a proof of concept of a
0:56
robot that was you know like a robotic
0:58
lamp. So didn't have a screen on it
1:00
obviously but it it could take
1:02
directions and as in it would you know
1:04
turn and look at you nod its head turn
1:06
around nudge things that you needed
1:08
stuff like that. Uh and it was really
1:10
cute. Uh but you know obviously Apple
1:12
isn't in the robot lamp business. Uh, so
1:15
this is this is a more
1:17
not yet. It might be. You never know.
1:19
But, uh, this is this is what they're
1:20
actually going to do with that sort of
1:22
technology.
1:23
The robot will showcase an entirely
1:25
re-imagined version of Siri,
1:28
another one, I suppose, designed to be
1:30
far more conversational and contextually
1:32
aware than the current voice assistant.
1:34
The new Siri will be able to inject
1:36
itself into conversations between
1:38
multiple people. It already does that
1:40
from a certain point of view. remember
1:42
remember information throughout the day
1:44
and engage in back and forth discussions
1:46
about topics like trip planning or daily
1:48
tasks. Apple envisions the device acting
1:51
quote like a person in the room capable
1:54
of interrupting conversations about
1:56
dinner plans to suggest nearby
1:58
restaurants or relevant recipes.
2:02
That sounds like a recipe for disaster
2:04
to be honest with chunk.
2:07
The company also works on a visual
2:09
personality for Siri, testing an
2:11
animated version of the Max Finder logo,
2:14
though the final design may lean closer
2:16
to Apple's Mimoji characters. So, you'll
2:18
you'll got a little blue Finder face
2:21
smiling and talking at you on this
2:22
thing.
2:23
Oh my god,
2:24
that sounds kind of cute.
2:26
For two minutes. Mhm.
2:29
Well, uh, German compared the
2:32
prototyping to the infamous Clippy
2:34
Microsoft who
2:35
annoying interactive paperclip of yester
2:38
year. Uh, fun fact, his name is actually
2:40
Clip It, but people just remember and
2:42
call him Clippy. Yeah. In Microsoft Word
2:46
either 98 or 2000. His official name was
2:49
Clippet.
2:50
I didn't know that. There's this weird
2:52
nostalgia for uh Clippy/Clippit
2:55
that I can only attribute to people
2:57
who've never actually used Microsoft
2:59
Office 2000. The robot is intended to
3:01
sit on desks or kitchen counters,
3:03
helping users manage their day, consume
3:05
media, and get work done. FaceTime calls
3:08
will be a key function with the display
3:09
able to automatically track and follow
3:11
people around a room during video
3:13
conferences. Apple is also testing a
3:15
feature that would turn an iPhone into a
3:17
joystick controller, allowing users to
3:19
manually position the display to
3:20
different angles. I guess kind of like
3:22
the Apple TV remote. That could be kind
3:24
of cool. Beyond the tabletop device,
3:25
Apple is exploring other robotic
3:27
projects, including a mobile robot with
3:30
wheels, uh, similar to Amazon's Astro,
3:34
and has also talked about, uh, humanoid
3:36
models, which is interesting. The
3:40
company also works on a large mechanical
3:42
arm that way it might use in
3:44
manufacturing facilities and retail
3:45
stores, but its completion could be
3:47
years away. The tabletop robot is
3:49
currently uh in the prototyping stage
3:51
and targeted for 2027.
3:54
Well, the early the early rumors about
3:56
this I think that were confusing because
3:57
they're talking about when they talk
3:58
about a robot arm, you think about this
4:00
thing plunked on the table and it'll
4:03
have an arm that will, you know, snatch
4:05
your a cake off your plate or stuff like
4:07
that. But you know the arm is the
4:11
articulating mechanism for the screen.
4:14
And the interesting thing is if you look
4:15
at Apple published a paper that and
4:17
about from their AI team showing how to
4:20
give a robot that looks like a luxo lamp
4:23
personality and give it how to how it
4:28
can communicate with humans using
4:31
various movements to indicate
4:36
understanding disagreeing being
4:38
confused. And it's fascinating. It's
4:40
it's a fascinating paper and it's a
4:41
fascinating video because just like that
4:44
the Lux the famous Luxo lamp Junior from
4:46
Pixar uh how many emotions or
4:52
sort of internal pro internal states
4:55
that it can communicate. If it doesn't
4:57
understand something it its head.
4:59
If it agrees it nods.
5:01
If it doesn't know, it shakes its head.
5:03
And of course, Apple's been do long been
5:04
doing this. You know, like a a good
5:06
example is when you log in, you try to
5:08
log in, you get your password wrong and
5:10
it shakes the the box or it used to uh
5:13
to to show that you've got it wrong. Uh
5:15
I mean, this is going to be like her on
5:17
steroids. I think people are going to
5:19
fall in love with this device. It's
5:21
going to be like a strange pet.
5:23
Mhm.
5:23
That will people will that will really
5:26
allow that people will invest their
5:28
emotions in because I think it'll be
5:30
uncanny as hell. It'll really seem like
5:32
it it it will have, you know, life.
5:36
It'll it'll seem as as though it
5:39
understands and it it, you know, it
5:42
it'll be much better at interacting. It
5:44
won't be robot-like. It'll be it'll be,
5:46
I think, somewhat, you know, humanlike,
5:48
somewhat animallike, like like a pet.
5:51
Um, and I think this is why I'm excited
5:53
about the thing. I think because they're
5:55
so clever. they they really do think
5:56
about these interactions and and and if
5:58
it has these these characteristics, I
6:01
don't think it'll be as intrusive as
6:02
people think. You know, I I don't think
6:04
it'll people won't be freaked out by it
6:06
so much. I think they'll it'll it'll
6:08
instill, you know, a very strange sense
6:10
of trust. Of course, there's going to be
6:12
downsides to this as well, I think, you
6:14
know, because people might fall in love
6:15
with the thing. Um, and I mean there was
6:18
a report this week about someone um who
6:20
was spending weeks talking to a chat uh
6:22
some chat GPT some chatbot and it
6:24
convinced him they were super human. I
6:26
think there was some tragic end to that.
6:28
I just saw the headline. I didn't read
6:29
the story but I think this is
6:31
fascinating and coming out next year.
6:33
Crazy.
6:33
27 right?
6:34
I mean the thing is this is tied to
6:35
another revision of new series. So it
6:37
might actually you know be held off for
6:40
a few years but I mean if it looks like
6:42
an a tiny iMac G4 I'm sold instantly.
6:45
You know, a little little screen on a
6:46
robot arm with presumably a weighted
6:48
solid base. I mean, might as well make
6:50
it half dome-shaped. Might as well make
6:52
it white. Tiny iMac G4. Instant buy,
6:56
right?
6:56
Where are you going to put it?
6:58
I don't know. I mean, it doesn't matter
6:59
where I put it. It can it can move
7:01
around, right?
7:02
I don't think so.
7:04
Oh, well, it should.
7:05
I think it's going to sit right in the
7:07
middle of your coffee table and be in
7:09
the way and uh offer useless
7:12
interjections.
7:15
7 in screen sounds kind of small for
7:16
FaceTime, especially if it's like you're
7:18
walking around the kitchen and maybe I
7:19
don't know. Would it be
7:20
I mean presumably it'll be like iPad
7:23
proportioned. So it'll be like a 7 in
7:26
4x3 screen which is a little bigger than
7:27
like a 7in iPhone screen, but that that
7:30
also did stand out to me. That's kind of
7:32
small.
7:33
Do you think the use cases for it, you
7:35
know, like I mean FaceTime's an obvious
7:36
one and a good use case and you know I
7:40
guess answering questions um being an AI
7:44
companion. I mean
7:45
if you have an island in your kitchen
7:46
like stick it in the middle there and
7:48
then you've got something you can throw
7:49
in like recipes on because that's where
7:51
a lot of like planning of the day
7:52
happens I think in most American
7:54
households at least.
7:55
Right.
7:56
That actually seems like a a good use
7:58
for it. you know, having all your uh
8:01
recipes displayed on something and and
8:03
and if it can actually answer questions,
8:06
you know, in a useful way, that would be
8:08
great.
8:09
And in fact, since it has a screen, you
8:11
know, unlike a HomePod which has to say,
8:13
oh, look on your iPhone for the answer.
8:16
Show you the answer.
8:17
That's the end of that, you know, I can
8:19
show you on your iPhone. Yeah. My
8:22
goodness me. Yeah. That good riddance to
8:24
that.
8:25
It really depends on if they nail Siri.
8:26
I mean, if they actually make Siri good,
8:30
that would make it useful.
8:32
Yeah.
8:32
I mean, they're they're tying more and
8:34
more important hardware products that
8:37
are dependent on the new Siri. So, I
8:39
think that's giving the company like a
8:40
certain amount of motivation there.
8:42
Well, there was a report this week we
8:43
ran as well about how um uh you know,
8:46
the the new um improved Siri will use
8:49
app intents to so you can completely
8:51
control your iPhone with your voice. And
8:53
obviously, I think clearly this is the
8:54
way it's going, isn't it? the the sort
8:56
of I don't know how long it's going to
8:57
take there, but the next generation UI
8:59
is going to be much more of this, you
9:01
know, chat driven, AIdriven
9:04
interactions, you know, where you just
9:05
ask the thing to do stuff for you and
9:07
it'll it'll go ahead and do it. Um, and
9:10
yeah, you know, but there's also I I
9:12
I've been reading a little bit of the AI
9:13
safety stuff uh recently. And you know,
9:17
there's a lot of um dangers involved in
9:20
have giving it access to everything on
9:24
your device. You know, your full
9:25
calendar, all your health information,
9:26
medical information, insurance
9:28
information, financial information. For
9:29
it to work properly, it's going to have
9:30
to access that. And you know, there's a
9:34
lot of there's a lot of um uh uh Apple's
9:37
got to be very careful with this.