OpenAI is getting interested in robotics again
OpenAI and Figure join the race to humanoid robot workers
OpenAI has invested in Norway's 1X Technologies, which expects to launch its Neo robot (left) in the coming months. Meanwhile, Figure is working on the Figure 1 humanoid robot (right) in the USA1X technologies / Figure
Yes, OpenAI is interested in robotics, and has been involved in several projects related to robotics and artificial intelligence (AI).
For example, OpenAI has developed a robotic hand called Dactyl that uses AI to learn how to manipulate objects. They have also worked on creating algorithms for robotic control, reinforcement learning, and imitation learning.
In addition, OpenAI has collaborated with companies such as Microsoft, Toyota, and Nvidia on projects related to robotics and AI. They are interested in developing technologies that can make robots more capable and intelligent, which can lead to new applications and benefits in areas such as manufacturing, logistics, and healthcare.
Overall, OpenAI sees robotics as an important area for research and development, and they are actively exploring ways to apply AI to advance the field.
Humanoid robots built around cutting-edge AI brains promise shocking, disruptive change to labor markets and the wider global economy – and near-unlimited investor returns to whoever gets them right at scale. Big money is now flowing into the sector.
The jarring emergence of ChatGPT has made it clear: AIs are advancing at a wild and accelerating pace, and they're beginning to transform industries based around desk jobs that typically marshall human intelligence. They'll begin taking over portions of many white-collar jobs in the coming years, leading initially to huge increases in productivity, and eventually, many believe, to huge increases in unemployment.
If you're coming out of school right now and looking to be useful, blue collar work involving actual physical labor might be a better bet than anything that'd put you behind a desk.
But on the other hand, it's starting to look like a general-purpose humanoid robot worker might be closer than anyone thinks, imbued with light-speed, swarm-based learning capabilities to go along with GPT-version-X communication abilities, a whole internet's worth of knowledge, and whatever physical attributes you need for a given job.
Such humanoids will begin as dumbass job-site apprentices with zero common sense, but they'll learn – at a frightening pace, if the last few months in AI has been any kind of indication. They'll be available 24/7, power sources permitting, gradually expanding their capabilities and overcoming their limitations until they begin displacing humans. They could potentially crash the cost of labor, leading to enormous gains in productivity – and a fundamental upheaval of the blue-collar labor market at a size and scale limited mainly by manufacturing, materials, and what kinds of jobs they're capable of taking over.
