Forget about humanoid robots that walk and gesture like human beings (not easy, there are so many…). The robots of the future may be more like small carts with grippers, like the funny ones Eve of the Norwegian startup 1X. These wheeled robots, already capable of carrying out simple tasks such as picking up objects, tidying up and opening doors, could soon replace human labor in many industrial sectors.
Goodbye fatigue? Not exactly.
Imagine the scene: a huge warehouse full of shelves and boxes. In the midst of all this chaos, the Eve robots tirelessly wander around, looking like little Michelin men on wheels, with pliers instead of hands. A bit hypertrophic Wall-E, to be honest. And what do they do? What you would expect, of course: they collect objects, rearrange shelves and open doors confidently. In your place, of course.
But fear not, lovers of manual work. For now, Eve's tasks are pretty simple. Nothing to do with the complexity and creativity of human work. Sure, they can pick up an object off the ground and put it in a box, but I doubt they know how to make coffee (perhaps) or write an article (omg, maybe one of mine does). After all, it's still OpenAI stuff which has made a lot of progress in terms of artificial intelligence in recent years.
And then, there is the question of ethics.
Do we really want to entrust robots with tasks that until now were carried out by humans? Isn't there a risk that we will turn into a society of lazy couch potatoes, controlled by artificial intelligences that decide for us? Questions to which, obviously, there is no easy answer. Tell me where we are at famous McKinsey report with predictions on how many jobs the adoption of robots and AI will cost.
However, there is no longer any doubt about one thing: the silent robot revolution has already begun. And whether we like it or not, 1X's funny Eves could just be the beginning of a new era. An era in which robots will be increasingly present in our lives, not only in factories and warehouses, but also in our homes and cities.
So let's prepare for a future... on wheels
I almost forgot the main reason why I wrote this short note: to show you Eve's progress. Nothing remotely controlled, everything you will see in the video is her work: learning and action. Ready for the future, then? A future full of new challenges, of course, but also of new opportunities. Let's not despair: maybe one day Eve robots will also be able to prepare decent coffee.
