Over the past decade, humanoid robot makers have attempted to make their creations increasingly human-like. But here, in 2024, we seem to be witnessing a strange shift in the dexterity of our bipedal robotic dreams. Put bluntly, robotics companies aren’t afraid to get weird. with the contortions of their latest offerings.
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China-based Unitree Robotics released a new video on Monday, available at Youtubeshowing the new G1 that sells for $16,000. It’s simply the latest demonstration of a robot maneuvering in completely non-human ways to achieve its goals, as you can see in the GIF above.
The video includes many strange movements that show how the robot can get up from the ground or greet people by pulling a kind ofExorcist It moves with its torso, turning 180 degrees. And it all looks strikingly similar to the new version of Boston Dynamics’ Atlas, which has a new way of standing up.
There is also a demonstration of the Unitree robot being kicked and pushed, presumably to show how well it can balance, even when standing. endurance. But we’d be lying if we said it doesn’t make us uncomfortable. After all, these are robots made to look like humans. And seeing rampant cruelty, even against a machine that has no feelings, triggers something deep in our brain that says they shouldn’t be doing that.
Once again, all these contortions seem a little new. A decade ago, Gizmodo attended the DARPA Robotics Challenge In Southern California, where teams largely competed trying to make their robots as human-like as possible. Companies like Boston Dynamics released new videos every year showing their robots walking, running, and finally doing backflips, all in the same way that talented humans could. do it.
But it seems we are on the cusp of a new era when it comes to robotics. Most robot manufacturers have achieved basic human-style achievements. walk and run. The new frontier is taking that form factor and turning them into superhumans, whether it’s performing gymnastics or applying logic and reason to the world in front of them.
We’re still a long way from AGI that will help robots perform tasks, but if we continue on this trajectory, it seems unlikely that robots will perform the mundane tasks that humans don’t want to do. We let AI skip all the boring stuff and skip ahead to making music and writing poetry. It seems silly to think that we are forming an army of stewards to serve humanity. with that technology. No, we’re probably going to let robots paint beautiful landscapes while we’re all stuck at our desks. fill out Excel spreadsheets if the recent past is any guide.
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