Boston Dynamics no longer has the creepiest robots. Clone Robotics is developing "musculoskeletal, intelligent androids to solve all the common problems of daily life." This video shared by the company demonstrates a faceless prototype called "Bipedal Musculoskeletal Android V1." The poor creature kicks and flails while suspended in the air like it is fighting for its life.
They took the worst parts of Westworld and Bladerunner and mashed them up. Ludwig Göransson's chilling "Ground Zero" track from the Oppenheimer soundtrack amplifies the dystopian aesthetic. I guess they couldn't get the rights to the Terminator soundtrack.
Pre-orders for one of the 279 limited edition "Clone Alpha" will begin at an unspecified time in 2025. This model comes with the following skills pre-installed:
Memorizes your clean home layout
Memorizes your kitchen inventory
Capable of witty dialogue
Shakes hands with your friends
Pours drinks for you
Makes you sandwiches
Washes, dries, and folds your clothes
Vacuums your floors
Turns the lights on and off
Sets the dining table
Loads and unloads the dishwasher
Follows you around
Holds items for you
Retrieves items for you
Charges itself
Equipped with the Telekinesis training platform to let you teach your Clone Alpha new skills
The horrifying kicking video isn't even the worst part. "Telekinesis" appears to be an LLM based on the following text about communicating with your "Clone."
Since the advent of large language models, it's been a technological possibility to start communicating with our computers in natural language. As a walking, talking computer, Clone Alpha represents the next phase of human-computer interaction.
Does anyone want a human-sized and human-strength android in their home using technology that famously makes wildly inaccurate guesses about stuff?
Previously: Direct from the Uncanny Valley: Affetto, the freaky child android head
