A Robot Beat a Human Record. So, What's to Cheer About?

A humanoid robot beat Usain Bolt's 100-meter record. To that I say, "Big effin' deal." Trains, cars, vans, trucks, construction vehicles, motorcycles, and Marty McFly on a skateboard are faster than prime Usain Bolt.

Why celebrate that a robot beat a human record?

It's the same sickness that arose when an AI defeated human chess grandmasters some years back.

What's to cheer, that we've created our physical and intellectual superiors? Are we to erect a sign that says, "HUMANITY. WE'RE NUMBER TWO, AND DARN PROUD OF IT!"?

I think not!

That a purpose-built machine can out-perform a human being in the performance of a specific task is nothing new. However, to celebrate that is to ignore the wider range of abilities that humans possess. 

We can do far more than just run. And in specific regard to the speedy robot, we can stop running whenever we want, but that's something the wall-walloping synthetic speedster is unable to do.

It runs well, but it crashes spectacularly.

To outdo all that we are capable of would require a specific machine for every possible task at this point in time. Perhaps that will change in the future when some species-killing genius creates Terminators or something, but for now there is no machine capable of physically performing every task a human is able to execute.

None.

So what are the "speedy robot fans" cheering for?

Think about it.

-RWaR