Humanoid Robots Showcase Skills at Ancient Olympia While Striving to Catch Up with AI

At the International Humanoid Olympiad in Ancient Olympia, humanoid robots demonstrated various skills. Experts noted that while AI advances rapidly, robots still face significant challenges before becoming household helpers.

Robots showcased their skills in soccer, shadow-boxing, and archery at the birthplace of the Olympic Games. As they occasionally paused for battery changes, experts discussed when robots might handle household chores like tidying and dishwashing. Despite advancements in AI, humanoid robots are still years away from performing such tasks efficiently.

Minas Liarokapis, a Greek academic and startup founder, believes humanoid robots will venture into space before becoming common in homes. He organised the International Humanoid Olympiad in Ancient Olympia, Greece. "To enter the house it'll take more than 10 years. Definitely more," Liarokapis stated, emphasising the need for dexterity in executing tasks.

Challenges in Training Humanoid Robots

AI progresses rapidly due to abundant online data, but humanoid robots lack training material. Real-world actions are slower and harder to record than digital data. According to Science Robotics, humanlike robots lag 100,000 years behind AI in learning from data. Ken Goldberg from UC Berkeley suggests combining traditional engineering with real-world training to help robots gather useful data.

Hon Weng Chong, CEO of Cortical Labs, shared that his Australian biotech company is developing a biological computer using brain cells grown on a chip. These cells can learn and respond to information, potentially teaching robots to think more like humans. The Olympiad aimed to establish annual competitions to validate progress in humanoid robotics.

The Race for Useful Data

Luis Sentis from The University of Texas at Austin highlighted the need for collaboration among researchers, data companies, and manufacturers to advance robotics. These partnerships are attracting significant funding for humanoid robot development. "These synergies are happening very, very quickly," Sentis noted.

Aadeel Akhtar of Psyonic gained attention on Shark Tank with his bionic hand offering sensory feedback. "We've built our hand for both humans and robots," Akhtar said. By using the prosthetic hand on humans and translating that data to robots, they aim to bridge the gap between human and robotic capabilities.

Global Showcases and Challenges

At the Olympiad, organisers limited events to tasks humanoids could reasonably attempt. Patrick Jarvis of Acumino mentioned difficulties in adapting events like discus and javelin for robots. "We also can't say whose robot can do a high jump because you'd have to build special legs," he explained.

Thomas Ryden from MassRobotics noted that while several U.S. roboticists attended the event in Greece, few brought robots. Chinese companies often display their machines publicly, unlike U.S. rivals who prefer polished videos that hide failures. Elon Musk's Tesla Optimus prototype walked stiffly onstage in 2022, while Boston Dynamics' Spot danced on America's Got Talent.

Simon Cowell commented on one Spot breaking down mid-performance: "Can I be honest with you? I actually think — I don't mean this in a cruel way — it was weirdly better that one of them died," he said. "Because it showed how difficult this was."

With inputs from PTI