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







Important Links:









* Don’t Worry About the Robots NEW UPDATED FOR AI & COVID-19







* Ameca







* Marc Raibert: Boston Dynamics and the Future of Robotics