The most common complaint about AI has been that instead of taking care of the mundane things in life for humans such as washing dishes and moving heavy stuff around, it is hogging all the creative activities instead, like generating "art" and coding.
Figure AI's founder Brett Adcock in a recent interview on billionaire Nikhil Kamath's podcast 'WTF Online' addressed that issue with "humanoid" robots. These are AI-powered robots that can move around and communicate with users, with capabilities to undertake complex physical and intellectual activites.
Adcock, who's also the chief executive officer of the company told Kamath that these robots would cost as much as an SUV would. These shiny, metallic androids reportedly have the ability to make autonomous decisions and adapt to new situations.
"This is the biggest technological transition since the Internet,” Adcock said.
“We're building robots that can think, reason, and adapt in the real world — not pre-programmed machines, but systems that learn," he added.
The robots are currently being tested and deployed and are not available for public purchase just yet. Calling them "the ultimate general purpose machine," Adcock said that these robots can wash dishes, do laundry, move heavy objects around, as well as the ability to engage in complex analysis and calculations.
This could make them suitable for dangerous tasks in conditions that would be hazardous or fatal to humans, making them viable candidates for physical labour in industrial settings.
Their ability for complex analysis also might make them viable in the medical field, in addition to the aforementioned domestic applications.
How They Work
The robots have a "collective brain" known as the Helix neural network which runs on AI that learns continuously over time. When one robot learns a new skill or a solution to a problem, it is then immediately learned by every other robot via this digital hive mind.
"Every new task mastered by one robot makes every other robot smarter,” We're scaling intelligence like software — but in physical form," Adcock said.
'Humanoid' Arms Race
This ability will give the US an edge over China when it comes to the robotics race according to Adcock. He described Chinese robots as "hands without brains", saying that they may look accomplished but can do very little in comparison.
“The real frontier isn't building more robots, it's building better minds. The race isn't about who can make the most units — it's about who can make the smartest one," Adcock said.
Adcock, who also developed flying taxis at Archer Aviation, said that humanoid robots will completely change the way labour, manufacturing, and gross domestic product currently exist.
He sees a "humanoid arms race" popping up in the near future with countries scrambling to get the global lead in this technology.
Adcock stated that investors should focus on companies that are focusing on both hardware and AI and are working on merging them together, instead of firms that simply automate tasks.
“The companies that can make robots both think and move will own the future, AI systems will eat everything. Software ate the world before this — now AI will eat software, and humanoids will be the largest economic opportunity in history," he said.
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