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Culture War Roundup for the week of August 17, 2026

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I don't actually think you want general-purpose robots, though. What you need is a series of frameworks within which robots can cut, weld, print, fasten, and manipulate objects. These frameworks should go from small to very, very large. The small ones are used to make microwaves and toaster ovens, the medium-sized ones to make cars and airplanes, large (mobile) ones to make houses, and the giant ones to make ships.

General purpose robots are tempting because they don't require replacing preexisting architecture but the truth is that you shouldn't want to retain preexisting architecture. General purpose robots intended to be a 1:1 replacement for humans won't build things much faster than humans (although you can run them on a double shift) and, worse, you'll still need to change up your infrastructure every time you need to make a specific model. If you get a general-purpose framework then changing your production line becomes largely a matter of software redesign.

This is massively significant because it brings down the cost of technological improvement, experimentation, and customization. It also makes industry dual-use again. During World War Two, factories that could make a car or refrigerator were quickly pressed into making tanks and airplanes. We cannot do that today because modern tanks and airplanes are extremely bespoke pieces of equipment. We need manufacturing that is capable of doing that again.