Poop Drones Are Keeping Sewers Running So Humans Don't Have to (www.wired.com)
from Thomas2024@feddit.org to technology@lemmy.world on 28 Apr 17:49
https://feddit.org/post/11577427

#technology

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MantisToboggon@lazysoci.al on 28 Apr 18:29 next collapse

Sounds like a shitty job.

resipsaloquitur@lemm.ee on 28 Apr 18:42 next collapse

AI is great at doing shitty jobs.

steal_your_face@lemmy.ml on 29 Apr 02:57 collapse

And ai is shitty at doing great jobs

whyNotSquirrel@sh.itjust.works on 28 Apr 18:43 collapse

Yeah I’m sure he regrets quitting his job to pass butter

Usernameblankface@lemmy.world on 28 Apr 18:42 next collapse

One job that we can happily hand over to robots

SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone on 28 Apr 18:50 next collapse

Now, the drone-captured data is sent off to contractors at SewerAI, who run it through their AI-assisted algorithms to identify defects automatically.

Now this is the kind of AI shit (pun intended) I can get behind (pun even more intended).

LostXOR@fedia.io on 28 Apr 19:13 collapse

This is the kind of AI that will change the world, not the word salad machines that burn through massive amounts of compute to sound kind of intelligent. The ability to train an AI model to identify problems is incredibly useful, whether it's sewer blockages or cancer cells.

thedruid@lemmy.world on 28 Apr 19:26 collapse

yep. all we have to do is keep incrementally improving lives with tech, instead of being assholes to each other. Imagine the world, if peace was the most researched branch

GnuLinuxDude@lemmy.ml on 28 Apr 21:00 collapse

Marianne Williamson got laughed at about this in the 2020 US primary, but she was the only person who meaningfully advocated for peace among nations, going so far as to propose a Department of Peace.

taladar@sh.itjust.works on 29 Apr 16:16 collapse

Peace isn’t something that can be managed in its own department. Peace is the (unstable) result of a lot of other things being very carefully managed.

AmidFuror@fedia.io on 28 Apr 19:04 next collapse

I had poop drones on my bingo card!

Have vaginal scented candles been invented?

thiseggowaffles@lemmy.zip on 28 Apr 19:25 collapse

You are multiple years too late on vagina candles: theguardian.com/…/why-is-gwyneth-paltrow-selling-…

AmidFuror@fedia.io on 28 Apr 19:57 collapse

That's a bingo! Is that how you say it?

hakunawazo@lemmy.world on 29 Apr 06:13 collapse
cyrano@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 28 Apr 19:35 next collapse

Remind me of that James Bond scene m.youtube.com/watch?v=9h1zn7l86HA

OfCourseNot@fedia.io on 28 Apr 19:53 next collapse

So now all Lemmy is on board with this AI. Why is acceptable for technology to take the jobs of plumbers (usually poorer) but it's evil for it to take the job of 'artists' (usually rich)????

redknight942@sh.itjust.works on 28 Apr 20:21 next collapse

This is not generative AI. It is machine learning- which has been around for aaages.

OfCourseNot@fedia.io on 28 Apr 20:39 next collapse

Generative ai is also machine learning, and you could say that the ai is generating movements and actions for the drone. My question, that was not about the underlying technology or semantics, still stands.

markovs_gun@lemmy.world on 28 Apr 20:58 collapse

Legitimately- what’s the difference, in your mind?

sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works on 28 Apr 21:17 next collapse

I’m on board w/ both honestly, as unpopular as that may sound. If a job can be automated, it should.

I want to point out that an AI being able to do a job doesn’t mean that job is now obsolete for humans. There will always be room for that human touch, which is why things like kit cars and hand-carved statues are still a thing in an era of automated car factories and 3D printers.

I’ve been getting into chess recently, and the best chess AIs can consistently beat top humans, yet there are still tournaments for human competitors to compete against each other. The human touch will always have value.

I think Lemmy is just scared of change. To be fair, so am I, but as long as I learn to adapt, I should get net benefits from technological advancements.

who@feddit.org on 28 Apr 21:51 next collapse

I don’t think jobs this hazardous are generally done by plumbers. Sending in a robot instead of a human makes sense.

Especially when the robot is better at finding faults before people’s homes collapse into a sinkhole.

OfCourseNot@fedia.io on 28 Apr 22:45 collapse

English is not my first language and I'm no expert in sewers maintenance so substitute whatever trade/job title instead of plumber.

I'm not against this robot quite the opposite. But I'm curious about the reaction when technology 'takes the jobs' of working class people like in this case (or you know last couple centuries) being very different than when it takes the job of artists, journalists, writers...

aleq@lemmy.world on 28 Apr 21:53 next collapse

‘artists’ (usually rich)

I know think you’re trolling, but…

OfCourseNot@fedia.io on 28 Apr 22:26 collapse

Not trolling at all. I used to hang around an art school when I was a teenager, the vast majority of those kids came from pretty well off families. The small percentage that were of a more working class background were there to get into graphic design or the-like in college, so they didn't end up being artists.

A quick web search gives that only 8% of artists are working class in the UK which is a wealthy country, I'd bet the percentage goes down in poorer ones.

Usernameblankface@lemmy.world on 28 Apr 23:16 next collapse

Their wealth comes from the well off families, then secondarily from the art that sells well due to the artist (through their parents) being well connected to other rich people through the school that mostly filters in favor of rich people.

kungen@feddit.nu on 29 Apr 00:22 collapse

So your assumption is that “lots of people are rich from making art”, and not “many people trying to do art professionally have that opportunity due to their generational wealth”?

OfCourseNot@fedia.io on 29 Apr 06:05 collapse

No, that's not my assumption. Where did I say that? Rich people are mostly born, not made.

Grass@sh.itjust.works on 28 Apr 22:21 collapse

in what world is a plumber poorer than an artist

OfCourseNot@fedia.io on 28 Apr 22:33 collapse

In which world they aren't? Like if you have the option of working throwing paint onto a pice of cloth or taping bananas to walls would you chose to work with literal human shit to your knees and your elbows??

Also see my other comment, only 8% of artist (in the UK) are working class against A FUCKING 100% plumbers being working class.

Grass@sh.itjust.works on 29 Apr 02:50 collapse

I’d believe it if up to 0.6% of artists made millions off a single low effort ‘artwork’. What is even being considered an artist here? Paint? Movie/Game? Strictly one-off millionaires? What is working class here too? Working at all or within a specific income range?

I worked industrial steel up until I got injured and in the early apprenticeship phase plumbers I knew that were working about as long as I had were making more than me, but we were all well above grocery store clerk earnings.

Nougat@fedia.io on 28 Apr 19:54 next collapse

We are all poop drones on this glorious day.

billwashere@lemmy.world on 28 Apr 20:35 next collapse

Two words I never thought I’d see together… poop drone.

tauren@lemm.ee on 28 Apr 20:37 next collapse

Honestly I though somebody was using drones to throw shit at people below.

MeatPilot@lemmy.world on 28 Apr 23:33 collapse

Well I’m glad it’s this and not a drone made of poop.

billwashere@lemmy.world on 29 Apr 00:48 collapse

Why do I believe if Mythbusters was still on the air they’d actually try this.

Ledericas@lemm.ee on 29 Apr 09:47 collapse

Adam savage has yt channel, basically he’s doing whatever. Adam and Jamie doesn’t seem eye to eye, by his experience with him, it was mostly professional relationship

aesthelete@lemmy.world on 28 Apr 20:58 next collapse

So much for Mike Rowes dirty jobs.

(Jk, those things were always a load of shit anyway.)

mojofrododojo@lemmy.world on 29 Apr 02:34 collapse

eh…

mike rowe’s full of shit. don’t think for a moment any of those jobs were made up though.

Man now I miss cash cab…

aesthelete@lemmy.world on 29 Apr 02:37 next collapse

It’s basically like saying “illegal immigrants” aren’t made up for Trump. Like, obviously people coming into the country illegally exist, but the dude was just making shit up when it came to the actual numbers.

mojofrododojo@lemmy.world on 29 Apr 04:44 collapse

iirc he was a musician before this gig so… yeah, hard working blue collar stuff rrwwarr ford tuff hemi merika fuckyea

Ledericas@lemm.ee on 29 Apr 09:45 collapse

I remember he was shilling for trump after he won his first term, he was trying to play it off “it’s not that bad” that he got voted.

Evil_Shrubbery@lemm.ee on 28 Apr 22:24 next collapse

Lmao, they outsourced pooping to drones.

And I was doing it for free too.

chemical_cutthroat@lemmy.world on 28 Apr 22:56 next collapse

“What is my purpose?”

Telorand@reddthat.com on 28 Apr 23:02 next collapse

Cue the worship of the “Master” that sends them holy shit a la “Reason” by Isaac Asimov.

b3an@lemmy.world on 29 Apr 15:20 collapse

“You clean poop chutes.”

Tippon@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 29 Apr 16:03 collapse

“NOT LIKE THAT! NOT LIKE THAT!”

El_Azulito@lemmy.world on 28 Apr 23:29 next collapse

Well, that’s a brand new sentence.

nimble@lemmy.blahaj.zone on 29 Apr 00:48 next collapse

youtu.be/ub0wV0TvY8Q

Grandwolf319@sh.itjust.works on 29 Apr 01:18 next collapse

This is honestly such an uplifting news that gives me hope for the future.

Prefer this over stories like a 10 year old that raised money to make up for lack of health care or some dystopian thing like that.

DancingBear@midwest.social on 29 Apr 05:20 collapse

Ten year olds operate the drones 👀

psyvibe@lemm.ee on 29 Apr 02:50 next collapse

Sewer drone found footage could make a great horror movie.

j0ester@lemmy.world on 29 Apr 11:19 collapse

Please don’t give Hollywood any ideas… like the Blair witch project.

Saleh@feddit.org on 29 Apr 05:40 next collapse

Why are you flying the drones though? Just give them wheels and call them robots.

Costs less, is easier to operate, uses less energy, less sensitive parts exposed, can be used in smaller spaces, easier to recover…

Texas_Hangover@sh.itjust.works on 29 Apr 05:56 collapse

Or you could read the article. Wheels ain’t gonna work down there bro.

Saleh@feddit.org on 29 Apr 06:19 collapse

There is no mention why wheels wouldnt work.

They only mention that flying is difficult because of confined space and changing airflows.

Sagan_Wept@lemmynsfw.com on 29 Apr 06:44 next collapse

5th paragraph

Blemgo@lemmy.world on 29 Apr 06:44 collapse

My guess is that the wires/tracks could get stuck in sewage, and it might make it harder to examine the floor better due to how small the drone might be.

I had the idea of a monorail system, but I guess it would have a similar issue in case the surface the rail was attached to got faulty. Might’ve been cool looking though.

Saleh@feddit.org on 29 Apr 07:16 collapse

I am asking because i know crawler robots exist and are in use since at least a few yearse. The more interesting aspect imo. is the automated image recognition which made huge improvements over the past years. For that it makes sense to have the analysis centralized within reason. E.g. pattern recognition against a larger database. There is local factors too though as materials, construction forms and so on often have historic local differences.

I fail to see, why the wheel needed to be reinvented into flying here.

Some examples: www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEMC_3ilpHw redzone.com/our-technology/solo/
theengineer.co.uk/…/crawler-robots-helping-to-pre…

MithranArkanere@lemmy.world on 29 Apr 06:53 next collapse

They need to make mining drones mandatory, too. Humans have no business being in holes. They are not their holes, they do not belong in them.
I’m looking at you, spelunkers.

Flameshark@lemm.ee on 29 Apr 10:14 next collapse

The bots yearn for the mines

Demdaru@lemmy.world on 29 Apr 14:15 collapse

Humans have no business being in holes

Thus, sex became forbidden, and humanity declined, with last generation asking their ancestors why would they impose such harsh ban upon them shortly before extinction.

Cocodapuf@lemmy.world on 29 Apr 11:02 next collapse

Who services the poop drones I ask you…

Some unlucky roboticist is stuck cleaning poop off treads, testing sensors and resoldering connections while wearing gloves and just hoping they don’t tear…

ryannathans@aussie.zone on 29 Apr 11:15 next collapse

Surely just throw it in the dishwasher

j0ester@lemmy.world on 29 Apr 11:17 collapse

The same people who cleans the mess from those adult videos and the confetti from AGT/BGT.

aceshigh@lemmy.world on 29 Apr 16:27 next collapse

Robots are taking over our jobs… did folks who work is sewers make good money because it wasn’t a pleasant job?

unphazed@lemmy.world on 29 Apr 17:03 collapse

I almost beat Sewer Shark. I was made for this!