As I prepared our swarm robots for a high school demo after a day of Special Ops testing in the hills, my confidence in our shared control system was shaken by an eerie detection—one that multiple robots saw, but no human could. What began as a technical mystery teasing at ghosts ended with a lesson in humility and fog, reminding me that the key to solving autonomy’s paradox isn’t eliminating humans—it’s embracing collaboration and the right metaphor for interaction.
Tag: Human Machine Teaming
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The Robot and the White Lady of Ramona
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Less Autonomy, More Teaming
True scalability in robotics won’t come from full autonomy or direct control, but from mixed-initiative teaming—a collaborative, context-aware system where humans and AI dynamically share control based on strengths, performance, and mission needs. By prioritizing humanity-centered design and distributed intelligence over centralized command, we can enable resilient swarming behaviors that are not only more effective but also more ethical in complex, real-world environments.
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Digital Workers of the World Unite!
At the inaugural Digital Workers Forum in Silicon Valley, industry leaders debated AI agent autonomy, customization, and the corporate drive to replace—not augment—human workers, while conveniently avoiding questions about ethics or human experience. Despite the flashy AI avatars we see online, the real conversation is unfolding in drab rooms full of humans deciding who profits, who gets replaced, and how much bias gets embedded into enterprise AI.
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Becoming Swarm: How Our Approach to Self-Driving Must Change
After two decades of promises, autonomous vehicles have not delivered on safety, efficiency, or emissions, largely due to misplaced trust in centralized cloud systems and isolated onboard AI. To achieve the future we want—swift, synchronized, and safe mobility—we must adopt swarm intelligence, focusing on relative positioning, shared flow, and measurable safety rather than waiting for perfect autonomy from tech giants.