Are humanoid robots ready to scrub your kitchen? Not quite.
Startup companies are now starting to test their humanoid robots for home use, but experts said wider adoption will take years.
Many people are eager to offload household chores to robots but humanoid robots are not quite ready to scrub your kitchen just yet. The company Tau Robotics offers a service where customers can hire a humanoid robot for $30 an hour to clean their home in San Francisco. The robots, named after famous people like Chelsea and Elon, perform tasks like vacuuming, cleaning counters and taking out the trash.
They are trained by Tau using artificial intelligence to imitate human performance and then to surpass it. However, experts predict it will take at least five or ten years before humanoid robots can reliably perform household tasks. Currently, the robots are controlled remotely by human technicians who supervise the AI and can intervene if needed.
The technicians wear VR goggles to see through the robots' eyes and monitor their environment. While the robots are not yet fully autonomous, Tau plans to phase out the technicians by around 2028 or 2029 when the robots reach a higher level of self-sufficiency. Despite their advanced capabilities, humanoid robots are still relatively clumsy and can fall over or accidentally hit people.
They also raise concerns about security and privacy, as their cameras record videos that are used to train the AI. Barclays Investment Bank predicts the humanoid robot industry could grow to $200 billion by 2035, but significant hurdles remain before the technology becomes widely adopted in homes. Analysts believe meaningful adoption will take at least five years as the robots' capabilities improve and prices decline.
Written by urgent.news from CBS News's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
