Despite being employed by the internet, it was—and always will be—a massive mistake made by humanity. We were not built to ingest so much information, right or otherwise, to the degree and volume as we do right now, as even when we're presented with the truth of reality to our own eyes, we often get it wrong.
If only someone would pull the plug on the AWS servers that power this god-forsaken place.
But that likely won't happen, and we'll continue to be barraged with a steady stream of absolute nonsense that's only set to increase thanks to generative AI and unscrupulous actors and companies that profit off these fake images, and dupe folks left and right. Case in point, the viral story that's circulating on social media that motorcycle manufacturer Suzuki will begin selling robot dogs that folks can actually ride.
It is, in fact, not true! Who'd have thought?!
That said, Suzuki did make a far smaller mobility concept a few years back that looked similar to Boston Dynamics' robot dog, and Kawasaki actually showed off a rideable horse-like concept earlier this year. But, no, Suzuki ain't selling a robot dog to you or I any time soon.
"News" of Suzuki's supposed consumer-ready robot dog/horse spread fast through social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and even the supposedly more "professional" LinkedIn, as people seemingly can't figure out what's AI-generated and what's not. And, honestly, it feels like the very early days of Adobe's Photoshop, where Facebook and MySpace were flooded with highly edited pictures that folks believed full-throatedly were legit.
And, looking at the image that spread, I can't help but want to close my computer and run off into the woods and cry for a while, as come on. Are humans really that stupid to think this Michael Bay Transformer-looking thing would 1) be real when we can't even get adaptive cruise control to work properly, and 2) supposedly only cost $3,000? Again, the internet was a mistake.
According to Snopes, which archived one of the original LinkedIn posts, the liar who's lying about this Suzuki robot horse states, "Japanese automaker Suzuki has recently unveiled a groundbreaking innovation in personal transportation – a robot dog named 'Moqba' that can carry humans across short distances. Priced at around $3,000, this four-legged transport robot represents a fusion of robotics, mobility, and convenience, aimed at changing the way we think about urban commuting."
Now, the MOQBA is the real name for the concept that debuted a few years back.
At the time, Suzuki stated, "Proposal for next-generation mobility utilizing wheels and four legs for those who face barriers in transportation such as steps, even in a region with developed public transportation," adding, "By combining the base chassis with attachments, body variation can be changed in three modes: Chair mode, Standing mode, and Stretcher mode. Through these modes, it contributes to the local society by not only providing the freedom of transportation, but also as a mobility that transports people and objects in places where cars can hardly go through in case of situations such as emergency."
Basically, it looks like a combination of an electric dirt bike, a wheelchair, and a pony. It is, in fact, not a robotic dog. Nor is Suzuki selling the MOQBA concept to the public, let alone for $3,000. Furthermore, the concept also shared the stage with a last-mile delivery robot, so...
All this is to say, stop believing the internet. It lies to you. And if anyone has access to the AWS servers that keep this place on, I'm not saying pull the plug and pour acid into the hard drives ala Andor, but I'm not not saying that.
