Re: [AI4K12] two AI treats to start off your New Year Dave Touretzky 04 Jan 2021 23:16 EST

>    This is fabulous!! As a teacher, it is essential to be "in on" the
>    discussion about the video. To be able to teach this to littles, I have
>    to know to ask the question, "what is AI about this" and then to have
>    access to experts discussing the answer.

Cool.  Here's another point to raise in class discussion.  While the
robot performance is spectacular from a technological standpoint,
compare it to these human comedic dancers using the same tune:

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NURO9bGbPcg

Ask your class, what is it that makes the human performance so much more
compelling than what the robots are doing?

- Facial expressions are a HUGE part of it.
- The human movements are quicker and more dramatic than the robots.
- Use of props: flowers, napkins, dishes, pans, the woman's dress.
- The human dancers touch each other in complex ways; the robots
  never touch.
- The humans are telling a classic story of rejection followed
  by seduction.  Not all dance routines tell a story, but it's
  engaging when they do.

None of this takes away from Boston Dynamics' tremendous achievement
with their video.  No one has made a robot before that can dance the way
the Atlas does.  But the robot video is a novelty; the human video shows
artistry.

-- Dave