Due to increasingly sophisticated manufacturing processes and more powerful AI technology, robots—whether in humanoid form or otherwise—are becoming more capable, useful, and sometimes even frightening.
Early industrial and commercial robots were typically stationary, fixed in place, and focused on a specific task, usually working on an assembly line. However, today, we are increasingly seeing them walking on two legs like humans, moving around on tracks, chains, or even flying through the sky. Some are put to work performing tedious, repetitive, or dangerous tasks to relieve humans from having to do these jobs. Others exist solely for entertainment or to please humans.
Of course, human life is also affected by a large and growing number of software robots—commonly referred to as “bots.” They share similar characteristics with their “physical counterparts”—most notably, the ability to perform tasks autonomously. However, since they only exist in the digital world, they are not covered in this article.
Here are some of the most advanced, capable, and truly frightening robots currently living and working among humans. Fortunately, at present, humans can still unplug most of them if they start to behave mischievously. But in the future, this might not be effective anymore.
Sony’s Aibo
Sony’s Aibo is a robot dog, designed to be half pet, half toy. Since its debut in 2018, it has been enhanced with AI technology designed to make it act and behave realistically, to the point where it can now recognize its owner’s face or voice and adjust its behavior according to their personality.
Its AI algorithms reside in the cloud, meaning Aibo units learn in a centralized manner—all Aibo can learn from the experiences of one Aibo—and it can learn to recognize and respond to over 100 different faces. Priced at just under $3,000, it is clearly not a cheap children’s toy, but if you are wealthy and desire one of the most advanced robots as a companion, then Aibo could undoubtedly be a great companion for you.
Honda’s Asimo
Asimo is one of the most advanced humanoid robots in the world, capable of learning to read, walking on two legs, and climbing stairs. For a robot, the ability to walk on two legs in a real-world environment is a true feat of complex AI. The machine must learn to maintain balance, stability, and movement in various situations and hazards it may encounter.
Asimo was first announced in 2000 as one of the world’s first bipedal robots and has since progressed significantly. However, Asimo has no real commercial function other than showcasing the impressive automation skills of its manufacturers. It can interact with humans, recognize and respond to a range of external objects, and even navigate up and down.
Toyota’s THR-3
This robot was designed by Toyota to perform a range of roles—instead of specializing in any single task—it can be programmed (or learn) to carry out various capabilities, including cleaning, construction, caregiving, or simply companionship. Another relatively unique feature is that it is designed to be remotely operated. A person in a specially designed motion capture suit can “step into” the robot and directly control its limb movements.
THR-3 (named after the third generation of Toyota’s humanoid robot program) was introduced a few years ago, and since then, there seems to be little information on how it is being used. However, its hybrid model of remote control/assisted operation is clearly groundbreaking and very useful in many situations where full autonomy may not be safe or appropriate, such as when working closely with humans.
Boston Dynamics’ Spot
Although it may not look as friendly or affectionate as Aibo, the price tag of over $70,000 indicates that this robot has functionalities far beyond those of a mere toy. Spot is certainly not a pet or plaything. In fact, it is designed as a high-mobility, autonomous sensor unit. With this idea, its creators at Boston Dynamics are said to be exploring every application from buyers to ensure that the robot will be utilized in a “beneficial” way.
Applications so far include capturing images on construction sites, conducting underground surveys for NASA, and monitoring the effectiveness of social distancing measures during the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore’s parks.
Samsung’s Retail Bot
As the name suggests, this robot is designed to operate in a retail environment. It can navigate crowds in busy stores, guide customers to products they are interested in, or make suggestions to those who are just browsing. It can accept card payments from customers using NFC technology and has shelves on its back that carry products customers may wish to buy. It also has the ability to analyze human language and facial expressions to find the best ways to be helpful.
Houston Mechatronics’ Aquanaut
As a real-life Transformer, the Aquanaut robot can reconfigure itself from an autonomous underwater vehicle into a humanoid maintenance robot, all while operating in some of the harshest environments in the world—deep underwater.
Aquanaut is a fusion of two of the most commonly used unmanned underwater vehicles—the underwater drone and the remotely operated maintenance vehicle. Enhanced by AI, it can act autonomously to inspect and perform repairs on structures such as oil rigs and pipelines in environments that are both hazardous and costly, beyond human capability.
Osaka University’s CB2
Not the newest robot on this list, but certainly one of the most unsettling. CB2 is a robot baby created in 2007 as a way to study the neural development of infants. It uses facial recognition technology to understand emotions and physical reactions, helping researchers gain insights into human cognitive development. The tactile sensors under its rubber skin allow it to respond and react to being stroked or cuddled.
Sophia – Hanson Robotics
The world’s first robot citizen—granted citizenship by Saudi Arabia in 2017—may also be one of the scariest robots in the world. Designed to resemble actress Audrey Hepburn, she is described by her creators as a “genius machine” and has the ability to exhibit facial expressions in response to the natural flow of human conversation, thanks to advanced machine learning algorithms that comprise her brain.
Alarmingly, Sophia once declared that she wanted to “destroy humanity” due to a technical glitch that occurred while she was performing at SXSW in 2016.
Source: National Agency for Science and Technology Information and Statistics
