AI Robots Are Entering the Public World
The Wall Street Journal|January 03, 2025
Robots are stepping out.
ISABELLE BOUSQUETTE
AI Robots Are Entering the Public World

Once relegated to factories and warehouses, next-generation robots are popping up in public spaces-from retail stores to museums-cleaning, cooking and even conversing with humans.

Improvements in "brainpower," most notably the adoption of the technology behind ChatGPT, and a surge of investment are helping drive their public debut and 2025 could be a turning point in what robots can do.

Operators expect to deploy more public-facing robots.

The robotics and drone sector in 2024 had attracted about $12.8 billion in venture-capital dollars by mid-December, up from $11.6 billion in all of 2023, according to analytics firm PitchBook. While operators are excited about new GenAI-powered capabilities, they are mindful that this next generation of robots won't excel at every human interaction without some stumbles.

Make that many stumbles.

"Some things which are very easy for people are very hard for robots," said David Pinn, chief executive of Brain Corp, which provides software for automated floorcleaning and inventory management robots used at retailers like Sam's Club.

Even something as simple as picking up an arbitrary object and moving it "is a really hard problem in the world of robotics," he said.

この記事は The Wall Street Journal の January 03, 2025 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

この記事は The Wall Street Journal の January 03, 2025 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。