We Now Have Delivery Robots Wandering Around Tallinn

[andrewfi]

For a couple of years, we have had delivery robots in Tallinn.

They have been a pretty rare sight, as they were restricted in terms of where they could go. A couple of days ago I spotted one outside my local shopping centre.

I took a picture of it, thought I'd share it.


I just wish I had taken a snap of something I saw a few months ago—a little string of them, perhaps five or six, all nose to tail, in a suburb a few klicks away from the centre.


OK, the first one is an AI image I made.

Here's the real one.


We also had an automated bus with no driver or attendant trundling around the park surrounding the president's palace near my home.

It seems that now that the little robots are pretty much accepted, the next stage is a van-sized device. They are supposed to be on the roads, but I haven't seen one yet. However, occasionally, one sees autonomous cars that still have a jockey in them.

We do have remotely driven cars. It is how short-term rental companies move cars to accommodate the needs of customers and for recharging.

We're living in the future!

AI isn't perfect, this went a little awry!
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[AvHdB]

By any chance are the automated delivery units called, ‘Moby’?

[andrewfi]

Why might that be?

[Contrarian]

Great photos Andy! How about one with a St. Bernard and a whiskey flask in his mouth? 

[andrewfi]

For your pleasure.
Sadly, the dog did not want to have the flask in his mouth; it probably tasted nasty.

The machine grew extra wheels on its journey to the streets of Manhattan!



This image shows a problem with working with AI images. They can look very realistic at first glance, but somehow disturbing. That is because they often have subtle errors that do not show up at first glance. The familiarity of photographs has trained us to think we are seeing something real, but it isn't.

When I make images, I have to be very careful to make sure that they represent what I want to portray. Sometimes I miss things. I have had pictures of diamond rings on women's hands that look great—until one notices, after publication, that the hand has six fingers!

The other day, I did one of a woman in a restaurant. It was gorgeous, but unsettling. What was it? The cutlery on the table was floating, not lying on the table. But I knew very quickly that something was wrong. It took a while to cotton on to the cutlery. I redid the image, and the problem was gone and as soon as I saw the image I felt no disturbance!

[Contrarian]

I'm digging it! The St. Bernard is classic, that's what matters the most!

[andrewfi]

You can do it yourself and for free: https://www.bing.com/images/create



That's the 'disturbing' image; see the problem?

Another from the same set: https://www.bing.com/images/create/create-a-hyper-realistic-digital-illustration-of-a/654b9125de2342d2af2ae7d8455929be?id=1CwaDELbKzxJOoTbWcHvFA%3d%3d&view=detailv2&idpp=genimg&FORM=GCRIDP&mode=overlay