More About Automatons

Check out these do-it-yourself automatons on Instructables.com!

How to Make a Bear Automaton
Walking Papercraft Mech Warrior
Minecraft Paper Machine

Automata aren’t new…

They’ve been around for hundreds of years. Many different societies have built automata, to provide entertainment and serve useful functions.

This writing automaton is from the 18th Century. 🔗
An American artist's (mistaken) drawing of how the Digesting Duck may have worked
In 1739, Jacques de Vaucanson built the Digesting Duck that could poop out food it had eaten. 🔗
A Waymo self-driving car on the road in Mountain View, CA.
Self-driving cars are starting to show up on the nation’s streets and highways. 🔗

Who is responsible when a self-driving car is involved in an accident? The owner? The manufacturer? Anyone?

What do you think? Researchers at MIT are thinking about these questions, and have built an app that gives everyone a chance to consider the difficult ethical questions that these new automatic machines raise. It’s called The Moral Machine, and you can try it yourself here 🔗.