Are humanoids just an unburst bubble with no future?
I have seen (let's say) quite a lot of hardware robots to be launched on Product Hunt, and we tend to be bullish about such futuristic things. BUT...
Renowned roboticist Rodney Brooks says that this is only a bubble.
Because of two reasons:
He argues that attempts by companies like Tesla and Figure to teach robots dexterity through video-based training are unrealistic, since human touch is vastly more complex than robots can replicate.
Safety – Large humanoid robots are unstable and potentially dangerous.
(Just imagine how we thought that in 2000, we would have flying cars. 😀)
Do you think that Humanoids have potential, or is it just a boom (bubble) that is doomed to burst?
In my opinion, humanoids can become a reality in the tech world, but I'm not sure if this trend will be adopted on a mass scale. Maybe in China.
Replies
CalPulse
I’m still feeling positive about humanoid robots:D Their potential applications in customer service could really help them gain traction. That said, making them as capable as real humans is a big challenge and might take a long term to achieve.
But no matter what, With the aging population becoming a bigger issue, resources to support the elderly are becoming increasingly scarce. I really hope that by the time I’m older, there will be robots around to help improve my quality of life :)
App Finder
@peilan_qin Yes, care for the elderly will sure be a very important application. By the time we'll be old, we'll have very advanced and reliable humanoids, I'm sure :)
CalPulse
@konrad_sx That's ture 😃
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@peilan_qin By the time humanoids improve to the point where they can help with soft skills, we will already be served by them and quite used to such a technological age. Yeah, probably our contact with such developed humanoids will be in the retirement home. :D
CalPulse
@busmark_w_nika I actually also look forward to the mass production of home humanoids! They could be incredibly helpful for single-person households. But figuring out how to bring the price of home humanoids down to something regular people can afford is another challenge.
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@peilan_qin I think it will be purchased massively by companies that will fire employees, and such bots can work 24/7. ROI could be quicker.
CalPulse
@busmark_w_nika Yeah, in fact, many people have already lost their jobs due to advancements in AI and automation. Technology development always has its two sides...
@busmark_w_nika Humanoids likely have a future, but not the one being hyped. Brooks makes valid points about the dexterity and safety challenges. I think we'll see specialized robots succeed in controlled environments (warehouses, factories) rather than general-purpose humanoids in homes. The real value will come from robots designed for specific tasks, not trying to replicate humans. Like many tech trends, expect 90% disappointment, 10% genuine breakthrough - but that 10% could still transform certain industries.
App Finder
@sheraz_abdul_hayee That may be the near future, but I'm sure that at some time we'll have general-purpose humanoids in homes etc. also.
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@sheraz_abdul_hayee I believe humanoids for living purposes are quite real. I was listening to a podcast with a programmer who owns a humanoid and trains it. The benefit is that as you teach one humanoid something, this knowledge can be replicated and shared with another 1000 humanoids.
Cal ID
Humanoids are super hyped, but most are still way far from real-world usefulness.
For anything that needs human-like touch or stability, they aren't even in the race yet. The challenge of dexterity and safety is huge, as Rodney says. I think there’s real and huge potential (maybe as niche tools or in super-controlled environments), but mass adoption feels a long way off.
For now, it’s more of a bubble bubble than a breakthrough. Still, wouldn’t count out China or specialized use cases, they have been killing it so far!
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@sanskarix Yes, China is so proficient at tech, but I have also seen some attacks from those robots :D Some videos were scary (and funny) at the same time LOL :D
Cal ID
@busmark_w_nika They were funny for sure haha
But, those robots are quite "generic", most of the failures are seen in mechanical pets or pure humanoid bots. They're doing great in niche robotics and will soon translate it into humanoid space as well.
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@sanskarix It will take time and I am pretty sure there will be many fails :D
App Finder
Humanoids will be a very big thing in the future, that's very clear. There's no fundamental reason known why it shouldn't be possible to build robots that can do all physical activities (and much more and better) that humans can do.
What I don't know is how long it will take to build humanoids that are really useful for a wide variety of tasks. It may be just some years or some or many decades. Brooks may be right that the current methods are not sufficient to build such robots. But that doesn't mean better methods can't be developed.
Regarding safety, I think such robots would need to have a deterministic symbolic AI "core" (working according to clear and well-understood rules) that makes the high-level decisions, just as we make high-level decisions using conscious thought. This may be very difficult to develop, but I'm sure it can be done.
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@konrad_sx Let's imagine that some idea about robots has the world for more than a century. And we are not yet there. Maybe it will take another century to create them properly.
App Finder
@busmark_w_nika I think that's very unlikely (unless something like WW3 happens). Don't forget the accelerating technological progress.
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@konrad_sx I start to believe than WW3 is closer than ever.
App Finder
@busmark_w_nika Maybe. I still think it's really unlikely to happen anytime soon.
IXORD
I saw a video of a humanoid robot practicing karate, and I agree that human movement is much more complex than just numbers and math. But I can't say it's impossible; perhaps it's a future innovation that will surprise us all.
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@ixord What was the video? :D can you find it pls? :D
IXORD
@busmark_w_nika I couldn't find the exact video, but I think this is the model I saw. www.youtube.com/shorts/yW0flRJHXqE
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@ixord Thank you, gonna have a look at it :)
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@ixord Bro has better karate moves than me :D