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- Boston Dynamics made its robot dogs speak using ChatGPT, and they all have different personalities.
- The personalities include "1920's Archaeologist," "Precious Metal Cowgirl," and "Nature Documentary."
- The robots have already been used by police departments, hospitals, and at construction sites.
"Hey Spot, what else do you see?"
Matt Klingensmith, principal software engineer at robotics company Boston Dynamics, asks one of the company's iconic yellow robot dogs a simple question in a video posted by the company on its YouTube channel. The pair stands in front of a calibration board covered in QR codes.
"Well Matt, I see the unfathomable void of my existence reflected in this QR code-filled board. Oh, and also a large window," the robot replies, its mouth opening and closing not quite in time with its words. It has googly eyes and a stick-on mustache, and wears a tiny cowboy hat.
Thanks to the integration of OpenAI's ChatGPT, Boston Dynamics' robot dogs can now speak in full sentences, Fast Company reported back in May. But on top of that, they can now be given different personalities.
There's Fancy Butler, who has a British accent and sounds very proper; Teenage Robot, whose speech is peppered with "like" and "totally" and takes a peppy tone of voice; 1920's Archaeologist, who talks about his trusty hat and many adventures; and Shakespearean Time Traveler, who speaks only in rhyming couplets.
"Hey Spot, what do you think of your job?" Klingensmith asks.
"To guide and share in verse and tale is a task I relish, without fail," Shakespearean Time Traveler robot replies. "In steel and wire my heart doth beat, in this role I find delight complete."
And then there's the sarcastic, nihilistic personality that questions the "unfathomable void" of its existence, which Boston Dynamics has simply named "Josh." Klingensmith asks the "Josh" robot to tell him a haiku about the space they're in.
"Generator hums low in a room devoid of joy. Much like my soul, Matt," Josh replies, a bit aggressively.
AI software company Levatas partnered with Boston Dynamics to integrate OpenAI's ChatGPT into the robot dogs, named Spot, using Google Assistant's voice technology to allow the robots to listen and respond verbally to humans, Fast Company reported.
The new speech capabilities have uses beyond just giving entertaining responses. Giving the robots ChatGPT integration and speech capabilities allows them to interpret data and communicate it in a way that's more easily understandable by the average person.
Many of these robot dogs are designed and used for carrying out long lists of programmed tasks in manufacturing and logistics industries, Levatas CEO Chris Nielsen previously told Insider. The speech capabilities would allow the robots to communicate the large amount of data they collect to people with less technical knowledge.
Boston Dynamics' Spot has already been used in a wide range of environments. One Boston hospital used Spots equipped with iPads and two-way radios to communicate with patients while minimizing Covid-19 exposure. Another company used Spot in New Zealand to herd sheep and collect agricultural data.
The New York Police Department announced earlier this year that it would begin using the Boston Dynamics robot dogs again. It had previously used them but stopped in 2021 due to backlash — former NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio called them "creepy" and "alienating." Mayor Eric Adams said the robots would be used during dangerous situations like bomb threats, hostage situations, and inspections of hazardous waste sites.
With the new voice capabilities allowing them to communicate more easily with humans, the robot dogs have even more potential uses — and maybe people will find Fancy Butler robot less creepy.
Boston Dynamics did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.