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It's not an either-or. Generalist models can drive training of specialized models just fine. And while I haven't seen a generalist model decide by itself to train a specialized model to complete some large task, this seems like a natural extension of what they already do wrt writing their own tooling as needed.

by elcritch14 hours ago|

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Well true, that's possible. The sensors and compute are relatively expensive and tractors are already highly automated. Plus a small tractor can be relatively inexpensive and optimized for the mechanics of the task!

I'm thinking more of the small tasks that are often needed. Mending fences. Pulling weeds. Feeding chickens. Running off coyotes. Lots of things.

by defrost13 hours ago|

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And yet actual farmers veer toward Ag-bots - autonomous "tractors" that have no human driver and pull the same farming trailer that already exist - ploughs, seeding bars, spray bars, etc.

The greater question centres about who will tend the machines - 4,000 hectares of seeding requires a week and more of prep work on the air seeder, hoses, points, tines, etc.

by wolttam4 hours ago|

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I would think that this is because those are what is currently available, and that this would change when actually capable humanoids start coming on to the market. It will become possible to re-use existing equipment (providing the largest uplift to farmers who haven't already begun the process of heavy automation, which is a lot of them when you look at a global scale). Humanoids will be more accessible than the bulking 8 ton autonomous "tractor".

Due to the scale of pre-training going on, it seems reasonable that a humanoid could also do a lot of the preliminary work you mentioned that currently is not (or rarely) automated.

On one hand I feel like I'm sure to catch some ridicule for saying any of this, on the other it seems like it is very obviously the direction we're headed.

by defrost4 hours ago|

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How much current and past direct hands on experience do you have with mining and agriculture?

The Rio Tinto plans for automated mining of the Resolution Copper deposit in the USofA don't revolve about "humanoid" figures sitting in seats made for humans.

Large acreage continuously producing near fully automated tomato greenhouses don't work with humanoid shaped automata - they have poles with cameras and shaking mechanisms for pollinating, etc.

It's a much simpler fighter jet that doesn't have to carry a human.