The bots are here, the bots are there, the bots are everywhere.  AI has now been conjured from the depths of mid century sci-fi novels and is having a real impact on our businesses, products and the way we live our lives. Like it or not, here it comes. But in what form? The clear and easy targets such as recent online developments courtesy of Google and the creepy/useful high jinx of Alexa and Siri are not alone. We have many new players that are using and developing Artificial Intelligence software for a highly surprising range of purposes…

1) Flippy

They told you automation and AI would cost you your job! Well… sorry, in some cases they were possibly right. Meet ‘Flippy’, a workplace robot designed using AI and robotic technology from Miso Robotics. Recruited by CaliBurgers, Flippy is a teachable robotic fry cook that specialises in flipping burgers. As Miso Robotics describes:

The world’s first autonomous robotic kitchen assistant that can learn from its surroundings and acquire new skills over time.

Skills like chopping vegetables, cleaning grills and using the deep fryer.  So how does it work? Using Miso Robotics patented AI as its brain and a 3D thermal scanner as its senses, Flippy monitors and recognises items on the grill and is readily connected into any cloud based POS system for unbelievable integration into the regular working environment. He is even fully washable. So just like a 15 year old kid, except he shows up on time.

2) Mousr

Your cat is lonely, your cat is bored and your cat is about to be spoiled by intelligent robots masquerading as toys. Yes people, Artificially Intelligent cat toys are a thing and they can be purchased today courtesy of Petronics.

Mousr is essentially a super smart toy mouse that is designed to respond and learn from your cat to make itself more enticing and increasingly harder to catch. With a suite of sensors and a dynamic range of movements, the Mousr can be told to keep your cat busy using its ‘brain’ or you can remote control it from your couch. It will anticipate pounces, mimic real rodent behaviour, learn common reactions and will adjust and entice accordingly.

3) Bine

So now you have an artificially intelligent robot cooking your dinner and another entertaining your cat, it’s time to sort your rubbish and take the bins out. Psych! No, we have something for that – a smart waste bin called Bin-e.

“Bin-e – the best solution for waste management in smart buildings.”

Bine takes the thought out of choosing what to recycle and what to send to landfill. Equipped with advanced image recognition software and camera sensors, it will detect what you have placed inside it, decide whether it is glass, aluminium, plastic or food waste and separate them accordingly. It will also periodically compress your segmented waste for easy removal and disposal. Designed primarily for office and retail environments, they also have the intelligent ability to share information between them and better identify waste based on multiple information sources. Your bins are now chatting to each other people, how long until they start shaming you?