Humanoid and Consumer Robots

The popular cartoon, The Jetsons, came out in the early 1960s and had a great cast of characters. One was Rosie, which was a robot maid that always had a vacuum cleaner in hand.

Who wouldn’t want something like this? I would. But don’t expect something like Rosie coming to a home anytime soon. When it comes to consumer robots, we are still in the early days. In other words, we are instead seeing robots that have only some human features.

Here are notable examples:

• Sophia: Developed by the Hong Kong–based company Hanson Robotics, this is perhaps the most famous. In fact, in late 2017 Saudi Arabia granted her citizenship! Sophia, which has the likeness of Audrey Hepburn, can walk and talk. But there are also subtleties with her actions, such as sustaining eye contact.
• Atlas: The developer is Boston Dynamics, which launched this in the summer of 2013. No doubt, Atlas has gotten much better over the years. It can, for example, perform backflips and pick itself up when it falls down.
• Pepper: This is a humanoid robot, created by SoftBank Robotics, that is focused on providing customer service, such as at retail locations. The machine can use gestures—to help improve communication—and can also speak multiple languages.

As humanoid technologies get more realistic and advanced, there will inevitably be changes in society. Social norms about love and friendship will evolve. After all, as seen with the pervasiveness with smartphones, we are already seeing how technology can change the way we relate to people, say with texting and engaging in social media. According to a survey of Millennials from Tappable, close to 10% would rather sacrifice their pinky finger than forgo their smartphone!²⁶

As for robots, we may see something similar. It’s about social robots. Such a machine—which is life-like with realistic features and AI—could ultimately become like, well, a friend or…even a lover.

Granted, this is likely far in the future. But as of now, there are certainly some interesting innovations with social robots. One example is ElliQ, which involves a tablet and a small robot head. For the most part, it is for those who live alone, such as the elderly. ElliQ can talk but also provide invaluable assistance like give reminders for taking medicine. The system can allow for video chats with family members as well.²⁷

Yet there are certainly downsides to social robots. Just look at the awful situation of Jibo. The company, which had raised $72.7 million in venture funding, created the first social robot for the home. But there were many problems, such as product delays and the onslaught of knock-offs. Because of all this, Jibo filed for bankruptcy in 2018, and by April the following year, the servers were shut down.²⁸

Needless to say, there were many disheartened owners of Jibo, evidenced by the many posts on Reddit.