Advances in physical AI mean machines are learning skills previously thought impossible.
“This is not science fiction,” declared Jensen Huang, boss of chip giant Nvidia, in June, referring to the use of AI to instruct robots to carry out real world tasks. “The next wave of AI is physical AI. AI that understands the laws of physics, AI that can work among us.”
In many ways, this robotics revolution seems long overdue. For decades, people have envisioned living alongside humanoid domestic droids capable of doing their mundane chores.
But after years of slow progress, researchers now appear to be on the cusp of the dramatic advances required to create a new generation of automatons. AI has powered a number of recent research breakthroughs that have brought complex tasks that had previously separated humans from robots within reach.