Humanoid robots are here, but they're a little awkward. Do we really need them?

Humanoid robots are here, but they're a little awkward. Do we really need them?

Embodiment for multi-modal GLLM will be an important dev tool.

It will take a bit of time though but the path is laid out.

It looks like C3PO and Robot Model B-9 (the robot from "Lost in Space") had a love child.

We absolutely do need them if robots are going to be making our dinners and cleaning our toilets. Not too mention there will be major $$$ available if companionship bots are ever realized. That is, bots that can actually go outside with people.

Oh another thing: it will take human-like caregivers to help with the upcoming elder apocalypse.

Humanoid robots are necessary to be compatible with our built environment, which is already designed for us.

The individual component parts can be designed separately. The trick is to decide how to distribute processing and use better design to get it all to work.

Balance and movement, when done properly, will work just like it does in us. When someone eventually gets it right, it will scale and cope with everything that we do.

We don't think that much about most of our movements, and getting robots to move successfully with minimal processing has not been prioritised as much as it should have been.

Some people are designing non-human style robots as they are worried that too-human ones would be creepy. That's excessive caution. Just make good design decisions in that area, and you'll be fine.

AI is not as big a component of robotics as people probably expect. Domestic robots would be designed as helpful slaves and would need limited 'AI'. Industrial ones are programmed for specific tasks and need none.

As with most tech, folk will produce stuff that almost works but with flaws. Others will repurpose the best bits. We could be moving faster with better design criteria.

We'll get there in the end. Finding the 'killer app' and viable private use may be tougher.

There will be a market for humanoid robots as what used to be called 'marital aids'. That's a good thing, as it will increase uptake and feedback.

In many cases, perhaps most, humans will still be cheaper and more flexible.

Humans, like most animals, are quadrupeds. In fact, we were never meant to walk upright - the multiple stress injuries I've suffered as a long-distance runner attest to the tradeoff we made for hands.

There is no reason to repeat evolution's mistakes when it comes to creating robots. Why not give it wheels that can turn into legs when needed? Why not give it one hand - or five? Is there a need for a head? Form follows function.

Better to have more stable robots on wheels or more legs than copying human beings.

“There’s not enough people doing these jobs, so the market’s massive," said Figure AI CEO Brett Adcock. "If we can just get humanoids to do work that humans are not wanting to do because there’s a shortfall of humans, we can sell millions of humanoids, billions maybe.”

Well, Mr. Adcock, as they say with The Rules of First Adopters of New Technology:

The first 1% of new technology are the early adopters

The next 10% are for porn

Then followed by the rest of the population at last

That's why

(See "home video media" and "internet")

Do we need them? No. Do we need power tools? Computers? Smartphones? automatic transmissions?

No. These are all tools to assist us & make us more productive as too will be robots. I can see the day when a workplace will be a crew of robots with 1 human supervisor. This supervisor will be proficient in all phases of the work which goes on at this workplace and be available for when a robot stumbles upon a phase of their work they are unclear about, the supervisor will be on site to guide the robot & keep the work flowing. Compared to workers of today this supervisor, when all is going as planned, will appear to be goofing off. He will sit & play a game on his phone or call a friend. His job is to be available to keep the workflow moving.

Someday.

!