Photo: Tomohiro Ohsumi (Getty)
I never heard of Boston Dynamics until this past weekend. Based on the unnerving work they’re doing on a futuristic robot, I’m wondering if they’re a short time away from becoming the real life Skynet.
A team of engineers has been working on the “humanoid” robot Atlas over the last several months, and developing its skills at an incredibly rapid pace. It was just last November when it turned heads by completing a backflip. Now, video was just released showing Atlas running through wooded suburbia whilst navigating dynamic outdoor terrain.
It friggin’ jumps over a log!
The entirety of the demonstration is hair-raising to say the least. Atlas looks like fake CGI straight out of Transformers.
Related: Guy Who Made A Sex Robot Is Now Ready To Get It Pregnant
Of course, the online comments started pouring in faster than you can say, “Hasta la vista, baby.” And at least half of the spectrum chimed in with witty banter, too:
Predictably, there are plenty of comments coming from those sharing their rational fears — What if developers mass produce these? What if they had weapons? Could these things eventually destroy mankind?!
So, where do you stand? A fun video to share with dad, or are you building a bunker?
According to New Atlas, there are little other known details outside of the footage released above by Boston Skyn … er, I mean Dynamics. The article also says the company was bought by a Japanese company called SoftBank (from Google parent company Alphabet) for an “undisclosed sum” in 2017.
You are in my prayers.
Josh Helmuth is a sports reporter in St. Louis who contributes to Mandatory.
