Alphabet Inc’s Google is merging the eyes and arms of physical robots with the knowledge and conversation skills of virtual chatbots to make it easier for its employees to get soda and chips from breakrooms.
The mechanical waiters, which were demonstrated to reporters last week, represent an artificial intelligence development that paves the way for multipurpose robots that are as simple to control as those that execute single, structured tasks such as vacuuming or standing guard.
Google robots are not yet available for purchase. They only do a few dozen simple things, and the company hasn’t yet given them the “OK, Google” summoning feature that consumers are accustomed to.
While Google claims to be pursuing development responsibly, adoption may eventually stall due to concerns like robots becoming surveillance machines or being outfitted with chat technology capable of providing offensive responses, as Meta Platforms Inc and others have encountered in recent years.
Microsoft Corp and Amazon.com Inc are conducting similar robotics research.
It’ll be a while before we have a firm grasp on the direct commercial impact, stated Vincent Vanhoucke, senior director of Google’s robotics research.
When asked to assist in cleaning up a spill, Google’s robot recognizes that grabbing a sponge is a more practical and sensible response than apologizing for making the mess.
The robots understand naturally spoken commands, weigh potential actions against their capabilities, and plan smaller steps to complete the request.
The chain is made possible by instilling language technology in the robots, which draws understanding of the world from Wikipedia, social media, and other websites. Similar AI powers chatbots and virtual assistants, but Google claims it has never been applied to robots on this scale before.
In April, it revealed the initiative in a research paper. Incorporating more sophisticated language AI since then has increased the robots’ command success rate to 74% from 61%, according to a company blog post published on Tuesday.
