Here are some brief updates on smart robots. Let’s start calling them GP Robots—General Purpose Robots. In other words, humanoid robots powered by AI that can handle any physical task normally done by humans.
Here are some short news snippets about GP Robots, along with my unfiltered comments and opinions that are often missing in this sector’s reports.
Let’s start with #BostonDynamics—I showed you a new video of Atlas yesterday. The robot dances, does somersaults, even breakdances, so fluidly that many of us might have reason to worry. Don’t get me wrong, I love these robots: smart, spectacular, advanced. But the real question is: what will we do when they start doing everything better than us?
Next, #Unitree with its G1 just executed the world’s first perfect lateral roll. Wonderful, sure, but it’s starting to feel like a contest to see who can impress the most. I wonder if, instead of just chasing spectacular performances, anyone is thinking about how society will change when these robots become ubiquitous.
Then there’s #Apptronik—its Apollo clearly shows that big companies believe in this tech: they just added another $53 million in funding, bringing their total to $403 million.
Atom from #Dobot, on the other hand, focuses on extreme precision: 28 degrees of freedom and an accuracy of ±0.05 mm, all for just $27,000.
And Nvidia is partnering with General Motors to push self-driving cars and improve manufacturing processes.
Across the globe, Chinese researchers have created a mini robot capable of exploring the Mariana Trench, reaching depths of over 10,000 meters. Fantastic, yes—but are we sure exploring extreme environments is more urgent than learning to better care for the planet we already have?
Also from China comes a six-legged robotic creature designed to extract minerals on the Moon and distant asteroids. A great idea, really, but if we’ve already destroyed Earth’s environment by digging everywhere, maybe we should pause before repeating the same mistakes in space.
Meanwhile, #PETA India is trying to save animals by donating robotic elephants to temples for religious ceremonies. Admirable in intent, but if we’ve reached the point where the only way to save wildlife is by replacing it with machines, perhaps we’ve missed something in the human-nature relationship.
I have no doubts: I love smart, humanoid robots, and I’m convinced that the future is inevitably robotic. But precisely for this reason, I believe it’s time to focus on the one thing that truly matters: rethinking society and figuring out how we want to live alongside these inventions that we can never un-invent.
