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← The absence of autonomous drone-built housing on Earth is evidence…
17 connected korrents · 15 moments on record from 4 Jan 2023 to 20 Sept 2026. Nearly all of them are about housing .
Everything filed under robotics
robotics
Everything filed under design
design
Everything filed under America
America Same subject Same subject Same subject Same subject Same subject Same subject Same subject Same subject Same subject Same subject Same subject Same subject Same subject Same subject Same subject Same subject Same subject Read this korrent: The absence of autonomous drone-built housing on Earth is evidence that claims about robot-built space habitats are overhyped. The absence of autonomous drone-built housing on Earth is evidence that claims about robot-built space habitats are overhyped. Last stated yesterday
20 Sept 2026
TE
Terence Eden — holds since 2026-09-20 — tap for who they are
Same subject: A house is built by trades that barely coordinate with each other, which is what makes housing cheap to design and almost impossible to redesign. — tap to centre the map on it A house is built by trades that barely coordinate with each other, which is what makes housing cheap to design and almost impossible to redesign. Last stated 2 years ago
2 Apr 2024
BP
Brian Potter — holds since 2024-04-02 — tap for who they are
Same subject: Affordability is not a property of a building; it is a price set in a transaction, so there is no such thing as affordable housing, only affordable prices. — tap to centre the map on it Affordability is not a property of a building; it is a price set in a transaction, so there is no such thing as affordable housing, only affordable prices. Last stated 4 years ago
4 Jan 2023
DH
Daniel Herriges — holds since 2023-01-04 — tap for who they are
Same subject: Building a lot of housing in an expensive city will not lower rents there; it lowers them in the cheaper places that were absorbing its spillover demand. — tap to centre the map on it Building a lot of housing in an expensive city will not lower rents there; it lowers them in the cheaper places that were absorbing its spillover demand. Last stated 2 years ago
29 May 2024
DH
Daniel Herriges — holds since 2024-05-29 — tap for who they are
Same subject: Building materials are already about as cheap as civilisation knows how to make them, so cheaper materials are not where housing savings will come from. — tap to centre the map on it Building materials are already about as cheap as civilisation knows how to make them, so cheaper materials are not where housing savings will come from. Last stated 2 years ago
2 Apr 2024
BP
Brian Potter — holds since 2024-04-02 — tap for who they are
Same subject: Building more housing in a city raises its local prices, because density is what people are moving there for. — tap to centre the map on it Building more housing in a city raises its local prices, because density is what people are moving there for. Last stated 3 years ago
19 May 2023
SA
Scott Alexander — holds since 2023-05-01 — tap for who they are
SA
Scott Alexander — no longer holds since 2023-05-19 — tap for who they are
Same subject: Chinese factory workers are more motivated than American ones because what they want has been getting cheaper against their wages while American housing has not. — tap to centre the map on it Chinese factory workers are more motivated than American ones because what they want has been getting cheaper against their wages while American housing has not. Last stated 9 months ago
25 Dec 2025
MH
Molson Hart — holds since 2025-12-25 — tap for who they are
Same subject: Corridor zoning's real purpose is to concentrate density's pollution and social costs onto arterial streets so single-family areas can avoid them. — tap to centre the map on it Corridor zoning's real purpose is to concentrate density's pollution and social costs onto arterial streets so single-family areas can avoid them. Last stated 2 months ago
15 Jul 2026
AL
Alon Levy — holds since 2026-07-15 — tap for who they are
Same subject: Cutting development costs does not cut housing prices, because prices are set by what buyers will pay and the saving is capitalised into land value. — tap to centre the map on it Cutting development costs does not cut housing prices, because prices are set by what buyers will pay and the saving is capitalised into land value. Last stated 3 months ago
30 Jun 2026
JH
Jonathan Hopkins — holds since 2026-06-30 — tap for who they are
Same subject: A highly dynamic economy that cheaply mass-produces robots may increase rather than decrease the risk of Malthusian resource dilemmas. — tap to centre the map on it A highly dynamic economy that cheaply mass-produces robots may increase rather than decrease the risk of Malthusian resource dilemmas. Last stated 3 years ago
1 Oct 2023
TC
Tyler Cowen — holds since 2023-10-01 — tap for who they are
Same subject: A humanoid robot is the wrong tool on a factory floor, because a machine specialised in the task beats it. — tap to centre the map on it A humanoid robot is the wrong tool on a factory floor, because a machine specialised in the task beats it. Last stated a year ago
6 Apr 2025
MH
Molson Hart — holds since 2025-04-06 — tap for who they are
Same subject: A physical AI agent has to be safe on day one, because you cannot ship something merely good enough and let users find the edge cases. — tap to centre the map on it A physical AI agent has to be safe on day one, because you cannot ship something merely good enough and let users find the edge cases. Last stated 2 months ago
3 Aug 2026
DD
Dmitri Dolgov — holds since 2026-08-03 — tap for who they are
Same subject: China already installs several times more industrial robots a year than the United States does, and cheaper ones. — tap to centre the map on it China already installs several times more industrial robots a year than the United States does, and cheaper ones. Last stated a year ago
6 Apr 2025
MH
Molson Hart — holds since 2025-04-06 — tap for who they are
Same subject: China installs more robots than America because it has a surplus of underemployed engineers, not because robots are self-evidently the right answer. — tap to centre the map on it China installs more robots than America because it has a surplus of underemployed engineers, not because robots are self-evidently the right answer. Last stated 7 months ago
12 Feb 2026
AV
Austin Vernon — holds since 2026-02-12 — tap for who they are
Same subject: Industrial robots are not the fix for American manufacturing, and betting on automation misreads why production sits elsewhere. — tap to centre the map on it Industrial robots are not the fix for American manufacturing, and betting on automation misreads why production sits elsewhere. Last stated 7 months ago
12 Feb 2026
MH
Molson Hart — holds since 2025-04-06 — tap for who they are
AV
Austin Vernon — holds since 2026-02-12 — tap for who they are
Same subject: One pre-trained robot model now matches or beats the specialists that were fine-tuned with reinforcement learning for the very tasks they were built for. — tap to centre the map on it One pre-trained robot model now matches or beats the specialists that were fine-tuned with reinforcement learning for the very tasks they were built for. Last stated a month ago
12 Aug 2026
CF
Chelsea Finn — holds since 2026-08-12 — tap for who they are
Same subject: Reinforcement learning cannot be scaled for robots the way it was for language models, because every attempt spends real robot hours instead of data-centre compute. — tap to centre the map on it Reinforcement learning cannot be scaled for robots the way it was for language models, because every attempt spends real robot hours instead of data-centre compute. Last stated a month ago
12 Aug 2026
CF
Chelsea Finn — holds since 2026-08-12 — tap for who they are
Same subject: Reinforcement learning only works once a model already knows something, which is why robots must be pre-trained by imitation first. — tap to centre the map on it Reinforcement learning only works once a model already knows something, which is why robots must be pre-trained by imitation first. Last stated a year ago
12 Sept 2025
SL
Sergey Levine — holds since 2025-09-12 — tap for who they are
At the centre
The absence of autonomous drone-built housing on Earth is evidence that claims about robot-built space habitats are overhyped.
Holds Read this korrent →
A house is built by trades that barely coordinate with each other, which is what makes housing cheap to design and almost impossible to redesign.
Holds
Affordability is not a property of a building; it is a price set in a transaction, so there is no such thing as affordable housing, only affordable prices.
Holds
Building a lot of housing in an expensive city will not lower rents there; it lowers them in the cheaper places that were absorbing its spillover demand.
Holds
Building materials are already about as cheap as civilisation knows how to make them, so cheaper materials are not where housing savings will come from.
Holds
Building more housing in a city raises its local prices, because density is what people are moving there for.
No longer holds
Chinese factory workers are more motivated than American ones because what they want has been getting cheaper against their wages while American housing has not.
Holds
Corridor zoning's real purpose is to concentrate density's pollution and social costs onto arterial streets so single-family areas can avoid them.
Holds
Cutting development costs does not cut housing prices, because prices are set by what buyers will pay and the saving is capitalised into land value.
Holds
A highly dynamic economy that cheaply mass-produces robots may increase rather than decrease the risk of Malthusian resource dilemmas.
Holds
A humanoid robot is the wrong tool on a factory floor, because a machine specialised in the task beats it.
Holds
A physical AI agent has to be safe on day one, because you cannot ship something merely good enough and let users find the edge cases.
Holds
China already installs several times more industrial robots a year than the United States does, and cheaper ones.
Holds
China installs more robots than America because it has a surplus of underemployed engineers, not because robots are self-evidently the right answer.
Holds
Industrial robots are not the fix for American manufacturing, and betting on automation misreads why production sits elsewhere.
Holds
One pre-trained robot model now matches or beats the specialists that were fine-tuned with reinforcement learning for the very tasks they were built for.
Holds
Reinforcement learning cannot be scaled for robots the way it was for language models, because every attempt spends real robot hours instead of data-centre compute.
Holds
Reinforcement learning only works once a model already knows something, which is why robots must be pre-trained by imitation first.
Holds