Humanoidization: Costs, Demand, and the Future of Work

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Humanoid robot companies are promising that humanoids will fast become our friends, colleagues, employees, and the backbone of our workforce. As Elon Musk described it when he first unveiled Tesla’s Optimus: “It will upend our idea of what the economy is… it will be able to do basically anything humans don’t want to do… it’s going to bring an age of abundance.”

But how close are we to this reality? What are the key costs associated with operating a humanoid? Can companies deploy them profitably? Will humanoids take our jobs, and if so, what should we be doing to prepare? To explore these questions, Dwain Allan and I interviewed Will Jackson, Jo Cribb, and Bruce McDonald.

Transcript

The transcript of the episode is available as a PDF. You can also follow the episode with subtitles through Descript.

HRI-Podcast-Episode-030-Humanoidization-Costs-Demand-and-the-Future-of-Work

ISSN 2703-4054

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Author: bartneck

Dr. Christoph Bartneck is a professor in the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering at the University of Canterbury. He has a background in Industrial Design and Human-Computer Interaction, and his projects and studies have been published in leading journals, newspapers, and conferences. His interests lie in the fields of Human-Computer Interaction, Science and Technology Studies, and Visual Design. More specifically, he focuses on the effect of anthropomorphism on human-robot interaction. As a secondary research interest he works on projects in the area of sports technology and the critical review on scientific processes and policies. In the field of Design Christoph investigates the history of product design, tessellations and photography.

3 thoughts on “Humanoidization: Costs, Demand, and the Future of Work”

  2. Pingback: New HRI Podcast episodes - Christoph Bartneck, Ph.D.

  3. Could it be that we humans seek connection with others. An obvious machine is not inviting those connections, but, if we can connect with something that looks and seems human, we would feel more comfortable? A relationship with a vacuum cleaner is not exactly fulfilling for most of us, but a machine that responds to us and can interact with us, that is a different proposition…

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