For the past century, humans have imagined people-like robots but used robots that didn’t look like people at all. Only science-fiction people have robot butlers vacuuming the floor. Real-life people have Roombas.
But things are changing. In 2024, real-life humanoid robots are working in factories and warehouses, for BMW and Amazon. Several well-funded companies are about to planning to soon churn out humanoids by the hundreds, and then thousands.
Why is it finally possible to build (and sell) imitation-human robots? What are they good for? How do they fit into people’s lives? How can they be built to get along with people? What do people have to do to get along with them?
Jonathan Hurst is the right person to ask. Since high school, he has been making robots that move like living creatures. And now his company, Agility Robotics, makes Digit, a human-shaped robot that is already working in warehouses.
In this podcast, Hurst explains why he thinks robots need to climb stairs, walk around chairs, and use arms to pick up boxes off a shelf. Have a listen and you'll learn why Digit has a face that’s not too realistic, and why people may learn to treat robots tomorrow the way we treat horses, dogs and other animals today.
Jonathan Hurst of Agility Robotics