Humanoid robots that dance, do somersaults, and perform kung fu moves are fascinating, but they say little about how they can help us in real life. If anything, the only insight we gain from this is that robot hardware has … Continue reading Figures Robots Sort Packages for 200 Hours Straight Without a Bathroom Break
We refer to artificial intelligence as “sycophantic” when, in the form of e.g. a chatbot, it tends to agree with the user time and again—even when it really shouldn’t, or when humans would certainly not take the user’s side. Let’s … Continue reading How Sycophantic AI Encourages Antisocial Behavior
While humanoid robots made of plastic and metal dominate the news and capture the public’s interest, companies and universities are already researching the next generation of robots: after rigid robots come soft robots. The most prominent representative of soft robots … Continue reading Electrofluidic Fiber Muscles for Soft Robots and Wearable Exoskeletons
Interest in humanoid robots continues to grow, as does the number of manufacturers. In my overview, I have already identified well over 200 manufacturers, who together have more than 300 models on the market or in development. But manufacturing individual … Continue reading The Birthplaces of Humanoid Robots Are Emerging
If you’ve ever thought about Harry Potter and wished for a sorting hat that could read the thoughts and feelings of new students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, your wish has now come true. Palo Alto-based startup Sabi … Continue reading The Beanie That Reads Minds
Preventing falls in a malfunctioning bipedal humanoid is one of the biggest challenges in the field of robot safety. Figure.AI, a San Jose-based manufacturer of humanoid robots, is introducing “Vulcan”—its new AI-based robot control system that enables the humanoid to … Continue reading Limping Robots for Security
LinkedIn user Nick Dimichino recently witnessed some disturbing behavior on a flight. He observed another passenger using Claude, the chatbot developed by the San Francisco-based company Anthropic, and verbally abusing the chatbot for three hours. Would we want to hire … Continue reading Is the Abuse of Robots and AI by Humans Acceptable?
An almost unbelievable story unfolded in Australia, offering a glimpse into the potential that people have to achieve great things with AI and use it for good. In 2019, Australian AI entrepreneur Paul Steven Conyngham adopted Rosie, an eight-year-old mixed-breed … Continue reading Dog Has Cancer; Owner Uses AI to Design a Drug
With all the skepticism that artificial intelligence regularly encounters in the public eye, it is easy to overlook how it is increasingly becoming a creative tool in the hands of artists. The most recent example is the creative use of … Continue reading A Thousand-Year-Old Painting Is Brought To Life With AI
The video showing a humanoid robot from Figure.AI autonomously loading and unloading a dishwasher is followed by another video. Once again, the vision-language-action model (VLA) called Helix 02 demonstrates that the robot (the Figure 03 model) moistens a table with … Continue reading Figure 03 Humanoid Tidies Up The Apartment