Over summer, I had the opportunity to observe one of the new iRobot vacuum cleaners in action. Chief among the advertised benefits of these appliances is the artificial intelligence system. This enables the vacuum cleaner to build a “mind map” of the building so that, over time, it becomes increasingly better at navigating the floors. This capacity to navigate successfully around furniture and other obstacles improves over time because information generated from successive circuits of the floor refines the map’s detail. Once the mapping is complete, the machine can be programmed to do selected rooms, selected routines, or the whole floor. This enables the vacuum to clean floors while people are out of the house. The vacuum sends texts confirming the job is done or reporting problems. The machines are fascinating to watch for a little while; it is diverting to observe this little pod pottering about on the floor and wonder how many times it will try to get under the couch (it will never fit) and watch as it determinedly pushes so hard it gets stuck and then sends a text asking to be rescued.
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