Lugh

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submitted 2 weeks ago by Lugh to c/avs
 

If you thought the idea of a 100% human-free Ship-Store logistics network was some far-off sci-fi future, think again. It's almost here.

Several ports around the world are almost fully automated with minimal human intervention. Shanghai, Busan (South Korea), and Rotterdam in particular. Fully self-driving trucks that can do highway journeys are a thing too. Now robots have mastered unloading the trucks. Warehouse operations are moving closer to being human-free too.

What's left for humans? Self-driving is still at Level 4, and Level 5 is some way off. That means robo-vehicles can master predetermined routes they are trained on. But more and more they will get trained on highway exit-warehouse and highway exit-store routes. Even with just Level 4 driving this could be almost fully automated.

This all brings closer the day topics like Universal Basic Income go mainstream.

The Holy Grail of Automation: Now a Robot Can Unload a Truck

 

There are still some people who haven't realized just how fast and vast the global switch to renewables is. If you're one of them, this statistic should put it in perspective. China installed 93 GW of solar capacity in May 2025. Put another way, that's about 30 nuclear power stations worth of electricity capacity. All this cheap renewable energy will power China's industrial might in AI & robotics too. Meanwhile western countries look increasingly dazed, confused, and out of date.

China breaks more records with surge in solar and wind power

[–] Lugh 1 points 1 month ago

There's good news too. It says the AI can persuade people who hold false beliefs. Maybe it can school people who've been led into delusion bubbles by misinformation?

[–] Lugh 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I thought voice might take off more, though Alexa and Siri are popular. Maybe it just isn't efficient enough for large amounts of information.

[–] Lugh 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

Yes, unethical practices seem baked in now with Big Tech, and Big Tech aspirants. I'm gratified to see open source AI keep up with the Big Tech offerings. At least it means there will be widespread alternatives. I hope it hobbles any one company from being as big as Google.

[–] Lugh 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Google recently held its big annual product announcement event - I/O 2025 - and it got lots of upbeat coverage. There were dozens of new product upgrades across Android, Search, Gmail, etc. Of course, the big focus was AI.

Google seemed to be lagging in AI but has caught up to speed lately with its models topping various AI leaderboards. Not surprising, Google has deep wells of computing power and talent to compete in AI.

However, behind the scenes, all is not so rosy. Almost 75% of Google's revenue comes from search, and it's about to be obliterated. As anyone who has gotten used to using ChatGPT, Claude, or DeepSeek instead of Google Search will tell you - AI is miles better. Google is about to transform old Search into an AI Search like ChatGPT, Claude, DeepSeek, and all the other AIs, but the problem is their days of 90% market domination in this new medium don't seem repeatable.

Google are about to be replaced as the dominant means of internet search - but just how much, and how fast?

[–] Lugh 1 points 1 month ago

Great article. I'm glad 'Star Trek' still looms so large in the public imagination; it's given us a really hopeful template for the future.

[–] Lugh 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

This topic fascinates me. There are more space telescopes from Europe, the US and China due to launch, that will have even greater capability for biosignature detection than now. I wonder how soon the day will come when one of these findings will be regarded as definitive proof?

[–] Lugh 19 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

I don't like or support Hezbollah, but the added irony here is that Northern Ireland (where Mo Chara is from) is festooned with British-supporting terrorist flags from groups like the UDF & UDA; pro-British terrorist groups active during The Troubles.

[–] Lugh 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Both the US & Russia have claimed Mach 20 with the HTV-2 (DARPA's Falcon Project) & Avangard respectively. China’s DF-ZF HGV reportedly reaches Mach 5–10.

If this golden dome goes ahead, I suspect/guess the ensuing counter-developments will mean true Mach 20 will be achievable within a ten year time frame for all three countries.

[–] Lugh 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I’m calling bullshit.

Their findings were published in the peer-reviewed journal, Nature.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-59698-y

[–] Lugh 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

without refrigerant

Yes, they say this does away with the need for compressors or refrigerants.

"This cools by using electrons to move heat through specialized semiconductor materials, eliminating the need for moving parts or challenging coolant liquids."

[–] Lugh 13 points 1 month ago

79% of 16-21 year olds say technology companies should be required by law to build robust privacy safeguards into technology and platforms used by children and teenagers.

This is another illustration of the huge divide between Big Tech and everyone else. Big Tech wants total freedom from regulation with no accountability for any damage or costs to others they cause. The general population overwhelmingly feels the opposite. Thanks to their ability to line politician's pockets, it's Big Tech who usually wins out.

In Britain's case, desperate to get a trade deal with the US, it's been dangling the offer of even less regulation on tech & AI.

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