We had the first humanoid robot football match in China with 4 teams playing 3-3 powered by artificial intelligence last week. Whilst the proceedings lacked the flair, tricks and agility of the human game; the result demonstrates the increasing progress of visual and navigation sensory AI autonomy making humanoids more dexterous.
Tesla’s own AI humanoid robot, Optimus, is targeted to operate in manufacturing, performing repetitive installation tasks with the dexterity to grip, adjust and manipulate flexible hoses similar to a human hand.
For fully automated production and assembly lines, the concept of robotics performing programmed routines is not new. The car manufacturers have been leveraging this for decades. Robotics involves physically building robots. AI involves programming intelligence that learns and improves, adjusting to the presented environment, to complete the task.
Disappointingly following Tesla’s October 2024 publicity event featuring Optimus as a bartender, it was discovered that behind the scenes the humanoid had been assisted by a human puppeteer.
In the business world, the opportunity to have AI replace employees remains an aspiration despite market expectations. The development of Agentic AI, that operates independently making decisions and performing tasks with minimal oversight, has started to gather momentum. A number of examples, from booking travel, handling complex customer queries, software coding development, and in the supply chain, reshaping logistics and procurement by optimizing supply and inventory, addresses real-time challenges.
The direction of travel suggests that AI remains on track to transform our world but perhaps not in the way that we imagined.
AI agents will become the primary way we interact with computers in the future. They will be able to understand our needs and preferences, and proactively help us with tasks and decision making. Satya Nadella, CEO Microsoft
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