“Alexa, turn on the lights. Roomba, come to the living room. Helix, please set the table and prepare dinner.” If these seem like surreal exchanges, you are wrong: this could be the new normal in the not too distant future, thanks to the extraordinary progress of theartificial intelligence applied to home roboticsThe latest frontier in this field is called Helix, an AI model which can transform the home robot into true digital factotums, ready to satisfy our every need.
But Helix is not the only protagonist of this revolution. The Norwegian startup 1X is working hard to bring humanoid robots into our homes. Their latest prototype, Neo Gamma, was unveiled just a few days ago and promises to be even more advanced than its predecessor, Neo Beta. Imagine a robot that can make coffee, do laundry, and vacuum, all while you relax on the couch or do other chores.
The Home Robot Revolution Is Coming
Thanks to innovative learning systems that combine voice commands, visual analysis e fine control of movements, these humanoid robots are now able to move with ease in domestic environments, recognize and manipulate objects, and even coordinate with each other to perform complex tasks. An extraordinary milestone, which the Helix model achieved in just 500 hours of training, and which opens up scenarios as exciting as they are disturbing.
Think about the convenience of having a tireless and always available helper, ready to take care of the most tedious and repetitive tasks, freeing up precious time to dedicate to what really matters. No more piles of dishes to wash, mountains of clothes to iron or floors to clean: your faithful home robot will take care of it, with unparalleled precision and efficiency.
How does the learning process of new home robots work?
figure combined two AIs, S1 and S2, to create the Helix Vision-Language-Action model. S2 is the higher-level thinking system that runs at a lower frequency. This model will understand my commands and will also receive visual input from its environment. Telling the robot to pick up a glass would be enough for the AI to understand that it is handling a fragile object, even if it has never used a glass in training.
S1 is the AI that controls the robotic movements of the fingers, arm, and torso to execute the command analyzed by S2. S1 operates at a much faster frequency than S2, allowing the robot to adapt in real time to real-life scenarios. For example, perhaps the robot needs to adjust the position of its torso while also moving an arm so that its fingers can reach the glass it needs to move from a dishwasher to a drawer.
Challenges and opportunities of a human-machine coexistence
But are we really ready to delegate such a large portion of our daily lives to an artificial assistant? And what will this “symbiotic” coexistence between man and machine entail in the long term? While on the one hand the advantages seem undeniable (more free time, less stress, a house that is always in order), on the other hand there is no shortage of ethical and social questions.
What impact will this technology have on the job market? Will we witness a progressive replacement of real domestic workers with their robotic equivalents? And how will our perception of intimacy and private space change, with the constant presence of an artificial entity within the walls of our homes? These are questions to which there is still no definitive answer, but one thing is certain: the advance of domestic robots It is unstoppable and will require a profound rethinking of the way we live and interact with technology.
A future to write together
It will be up to us, as a society, to find the right balance between the undoubted opportunities offered by these digital helpers and the need to preserve our humanity and our fundamental values.
Meanwhile, companies like figure e 1X continue to push the boundaries of what is possible, giving us a glimpse into an ever-closer future in which home robots will no longer be a movie curiosity, but a concrete and familiar presence in our lives. And you, would you be ready to welcome a Neo Gamma or Helix in your living room? How about we start setting the stage, perhaps starting with a simple “Hi, I’m your new artificial roommate”?
