Social Robots are a Scam

Many robots today—such as Pepper, Sophia, Ameca, and others—glide around hotels, malls, and tech conferences to greet and interact with people. But are these robots truly useful?

“I feel social robots are a scam,” said Mankaran Singh, founder of Flow Drive, which makes autonomous vehicle capabilities, saying how social robots, the kind that we see moving around in conferences or specific venues that you can interact with people, do not have long-term use. 

Sophia, the humanoid robot created in 2016, was also the talk of the town at one point. It made high-profile appearances, receiving Saudi Arabian citizenship, and serving as a UN Innovation Champion. However, that fad has faded with no talk about Sophia anymore. However, similar developments will not end. 

Over 27 humanoids were displayed at the recent World Robot Conference at Beijing, including Tesla’s humanoid Optimus. You might have come across recent videos of those robots with an uncanny resemblance to humans, parading around at the conference, but most of them seemed like mere animatronics doing nothing much. 

Big tech companies are investing heavily in humanoid development too. We recentyl witnessed some impressive displays of Atlas humanoids by Boston Dynamics, where the robot was seen to do push-ups. You even had Chinese company Unitree Robotics unveil G1 performing jumps and turns. It was likely an effort to showcase the machine’s flexibility, but it raises the question: what practical applications will this capability enable?

Unitree Robotics’ G1. Source: Youtube  

Humanoids For Good

While we still figure out such humanoids’ true purpose, not all humanoids are built for fancy actions alone. 

Big tech companies’ robotics developments are majorly tilting towards industrial purposes. Humanoids such as Figure 02, are already being implemented in automotive factories. Founder, Brett Adcock, whose vision is to give “artificial intelligence a body,” has put the humanoids in production at BMW factories. 

Similarly, Digit, a bipedal humanoid robot by Agility Robotics, is also employed in warehouses for sorting and lifting. Apptronik’s Apollo robotics have also been employed for similar purposes. 

Interestingly, the use-case of humanoid-type robots goes way beyond manufacturing industries.

Stretching Boundaries with Robotics 

Disney Research, a division of The Walt Disney Company that focuses on advancing technology and innovation, has been leveraging robotics to enhance entertainment experiences, focusing on creating robots that not only perform tasks but also convey emotions and interact in ways that are engaging for audiences.

“Was initially “meh” with the new Disney AI robot, but realised they are matching a specific emotion to every pedal step or head tilt. This is actually a perfect challenge for Disney’s “Imagineering” team (a portmanteau of imagination and engineering),” said entrepreneur and writer, Trung Phan, on X.   

Disney Research even revealed the design blueprint for their iconic robot, combining legged robot control, learning-based control, and character animation to create a friendly, expressive robot capable of dynamic performances.

Going extensively in bringing emotions to robots, Disney even introduced a new robot that can replicate human facial movements, including blinking and subtle head tilts. Equipped with sensors, it adjusts its gaze and mimics breathing through slight movements.

Disney have also been stretching the boundaries to not just make realistic production but experiment with robots that may potentially save lives too. The company is experimenting with robots for performing gravity-defying stunts for their theme parks and probably in movie production too. 

The company developed a robotic Spider-Man at Avengers Campus that performs flips, somersaults, and climbs 25 metres in the air. The approach can help prevent mishaps that happen commonly during movie stunt shoots. Thereby, finding the most appropriate application for robots. 

Source: X

AIM recently got in touch with Vayu Robotics, an emerging robotics company backed by biggies such as Khosla Ventures, Lockheed Martin, and others, which is building the next wave of robotics with cost-effective principles. 

China Leading the Race 

While developments in robotics have been evolving for decades, they have now gained momentum and are increasingly taking on a demographic angle, with China leading the way.

China’s robotics initiative aligns with President Xi Jinping’s policy to develop “new productive forces” in technology. As the world’s largest market for industrial robots, China is seeing this technology gradually reshape traditional industries such as manufacturing, automotive, agriculture, education, and health and home services. In 2022, China’s share in installation of industrial robots was more than half the global total.  

In the meantime, big tech companies’ increased focus on research and development in robotics, particularly humanoids, continues to evolve as they seek the exact product-market fit. 

Some may argue that these robots will replace human labour and handle household chores, while others believe that everyone will eventually own one, like a mobile phone. How much of this will come to fruition remains to be seen.