This ChatGPT-powered robot koala bear is giving me serious Five ...
AI assistants have an image problem. While chatbots and virtual assistants like ChatGPT and Copilot might have their uses, there's something cold and unforgiving about a blinking cursor and a text response. Surely we could personalise them a little, and soften those hard, robotic edges? What if, for example, you put one inside a cute little koala bear stuffed toy? Wouldn't that be lovely?
Reddit user Spiritual_Aside_7859 has created a Raspberry Pi-powered and ChatGPT-enabled stuffed koala bear (via Tom's Hardware), complete with motorised animations and some cheerful LED lights. If all of that sounds adorable, well, wait until you see it in motion.
Project Details
The project makes use of a Raspberry Pi in tandem with an Arduino Uno R4 to interface ChatGPT with the onboard hardware. That includes an ultrasonic sensor to detect when objects are nearby and become aware of people in the room. Combine that with a mini OLED monitor jammed into the koala's eye-socket for "suspicious looks" and what you have here is less of a cuddly companion, and more something that looks like it may chase you down the corridor in the dead of night.
The bear is able to speak via ChatGPT's responses to text prompts, verbalised with the use of a text-to-speech app, although Spiritual_Aside_7859 is taking suggestions as to how the project overall could be improved.
Future Plans
Current future plans for the death koala—I mean ambitious project—include improving speech recognition and adding a mouth display. Worryingly, Spiritual_Aside_7859 says that the bear does have a form of speech recognition integration already, but it seemed to only hear them twice. Buggy implementation, or feigned ignorance to induce a false sense of security? My money's on the latter.
What with that terrifyingly janky head movement—and a determination to make the bear appear both curious and disapproving towards humans—what's been created here seems to be less of a creative mix of AI and robotics and more something designed to scare small children. And terrify adults.
At this point I can only hope that it doesn't become capable of proper movement, as this project strikes as being a Roomba integration away from something that will haunt my dreams for some time to come.
Microsoft's Copilot
Microsoft’s Copilot, a generative AI-powered tool that can generate text as well as answer specific questions, is now available as an in-app chatbot on Telegram, the instant messaging app. Currently in beta, Copilot for Telegram allows you to talk with the AI chatbot as if you’re having a normal, one-on-one conversation with a friend. Microsoft has introduced Copilot into several of its products, including Microsoft 365 and Teams, along with AI-first hardware, Copilot+ PCs.
Multiple Microsoft services including Bing and Copilot, along with ChatGPT internet search and DuckDuckGo are down in Europe.
Albania's Nedim Bajrami surprised Italy with a goal 23 seconds in at the UEFA Euro 2024 tournament — though it didn't take long for Italy to respond.
Retired federal judge writes a moving memoir about his long career and using his voice to motivate people with disabilities.
Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski and Road Test Editor Zac Palmer. Autoblog launched in June 2004, and that means we're celebrating our 20th anniversary.
The electric Honda N-Van e: is a tiny van developed to haul cargo, people, or both. It starts at less than $20,000 in Japan.
A New York Times report investigates China's accelerated research and usage of autonomous taxis.
Tesla hasn’t publicly confirmed any such problems, but commenters on the Cybertruck Owners Club forum and Reddit said they were notified that deliveries have been halted and their pickup dates were pushed back a week.
Record-breaking high temperatures are likely across the country. Not only is this lotion a self-tanner, but it's also moisturizing and promises to firm your skin.
Behold a Samsung 4K smart TV for over $1,400 off, an HP laptop for under $300, and a Margaritaville machine for under $200.
