Many may think that Google’s acquisition of these robot companies, which recently culminated in Boston Dynamics, the owner of the terrifying robots, would exploit them for things like delivering products, but Will Knight from MIT Technology Review has a different opinion.
Since Google searches are still… for data.
Google’s takeover was gradual and quiet.
Google quietly bought seven robot companies, giving Andy Rubin, the man who led the Android project, the job of developing Google’s first robot army. Thus, the New York Times reports that within a few years, a Google robot will drive a Google car to deliver products to our doors.
I doubt Google has something future in mind. I think there is a similarity in effort between Google’s self-driving car and the Android project. In other words, it is limited to obtaining an important position in the data market. Let’s take Google’s self-driving cars…
Will also takes us back to the basic concept of self-driving cars and how Google did not actually invent this concept. Contrary to popular perception, the company did not “invent” this technology; Most automakers were working on self-driving when Google got involved, and academic researchers were able to make a breakthrough thanks in large part to DARPA’s famous challenges.
Google saw this as a trend in the automotive industry, and realized that the emergence of these concepts of robotics, communication, and artificial intelligence in general meant a tsunami of data that could be viewed and utilized. Given that many of us spend several hours a day in cars, this data could help Google learn more about users and design products accordingly.
And here Will arrives at his vision: I believe that Google is fulfilling its stated mission: “organizing the world’s information.” Although it is worth noting that in an increasingly interconnected and data-rich world, we seek to organize every aspect of our lives. Fortunately for Google, it will soon have an army of robots to help it keep everything organized.
