"Creepy" Video of Robots Dancing Causes Internet Frenzy -- And Even Elon Musk is Weighing In A new video of a dancing robot by Boston Dynamics went viral on Twitter this week.
By Emily Rella Edited by Jessica Thomas
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The future of artificial intelligence and robotic machines is something that both excites and terrifies many people.
A new video of a dancing robot went viral on Twitter this week for garnering myriad reactions about what new robotic capabilities could mean down the line.
Imagine what AI powered machines will be able to do in the next 5-10 years.
— Vala Afshar (@ValaAfshar) July 17, 2021
Boston Dynamics machines flawlessly and soulfully dancing in rhythm. pic.twitter.com/1PHmurRo1k
Vala Afshar, chief digital evangelist for Salesforce, posted a video of a Boston Dynamics robot moving and grooving to "Do You Love Me" by the Contours.
Later in the video, the robot is joined by a second machine and a dog robot whom the company named "Spot."
"Imagine what AI powered machines will be able to do in the next 5-10 years," Afshar wrote alongside the video in a post that has since been retweeted over 34,000 times.
Afshar's video even caught the eye of Elon Musk, who replied "Indeed" to his open-ended question.
Others, however, were less excited about the technology and weighed in on the social media platform to share their thoughts and fears.
They've certainly got a lot better at dancing. Still, for some reason I picture the "dog" relentlessly chasing down protestors and the human shaped machines effortlessly wiping out entire encampments of combatants, or maybe just hundreds of villagers.
— Brooklyn Trending³³º¹ (@BKTrending) July 18, 2021
Great achievement. Robots dancing in unison. Still can't get clean water to half the world or stop transmission of Malaria but hey, we have robots that will decrease labour costs, create unemployment and increase billionaires profits
— martin mcmahon (@MartinJmcmah) July 17, 2021
Only thing I see in this stuff these days is all the ways these machines will annihilate jobs, serve the rich, and exponentially add to already increasing inequality.
— David Chartier (@chartier) July 19, 2021
in 5 to 10 years climate change will have solidified our planet's path to be uninhabitable by humans but go off for the dancing robots
— Emme THE BOY WITH A BIRD IN HIS CHEST: 2.15.22 (@emme_lund) July 19, 2021
cute party trick but those things are gonna be death machines
— dirt fart cool bug finder (@dirtfart_) July 18, 2021
Creepy
— Skipanngolight (@skipanngolight) July 19, 2021
We don't need dancing robots. We need affordable medications, we need cleaner water and companies to focus on the damage they do to our environment. We also need to not pretend like these cute little robots aren't going to be weaponized by a future despot in our own streets.
— Patricia Martinez (@triciaonkiss) July 19, 2021
Many called the development of the technology out as a lack of prioritization with other issues in the world, like climate change and health care.
Others found the robots "creepy" and raised fears that the machines would one day become violent.
"Those things are gonna be death machines," one user wrote.
Boston Dynamics is an engineering and robotics company focusing on robotic design that prioritizes "advanced mobility, dexterity and intelligence."
