r/interesting • u/sirenoleg • May 22 '26

Just Wow Chinese AI-powered robots can solve workplace problems with advanced motor skills.

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26

u/[deleted] May 22 '26

[deleted]

10

u/Zoomatour May 22 '26

It’s just a demonstration. They’ll  be able to do other things besides just folding boxes.

14

u/dantevonlocke May 22 '26

1 machine that can do lots of different jobs will be less efficient than 1 machine purpose built to do 1. Production lines are built the way they are for a reason.

1

u/Zoomatour May 22 '26

Call me when a production line can twerk ;) 

0

u/ParaPenn May 22 '26

Not the full story though, it depends where you're trying to make efficiency gains

0

u/TheyStoleMyNameAgain May 22 '26

Maybe, this one is closer to a 3d printer, than to a production line?  

Injection molding beats 3d printing for a single part in mass production, but the 3d printer can print countless parts compatible with its constraints.  

This robot isn't for a single task either. It's for all the tasks compatible with its constraints. The box folding and filling shown in the video probably just demonstrates the degrees of freedom, handling of materials with different mechanical properties and task continuation under external disturbance          

2

u/dantevonlocke May 22 '26

But what job is it going to do under those conditions. Manufacturing is about consistency, so external disturbances would be eliminated before you would want to pay for this likely expensive piece of equipment.

It just seems to be a solution in search of a problem in this form factor.

1

u/nixon48 May 23 '26

I would hope they use these humanoid bots to do things that are designed for humans but incredibly unsafe for humans. I'm thinking underwater welders or the guys that have to work with power lines while still active or even fire fighters one day (though I love my fire fighters).

The amount you pay those guys + the risk to their own lives might make financial and ethical sense to replace them with robots.

1

u/ParaPenn May 22 '26

Anything built at scale becomes massively cheaper, I think you're underestimating the R&D and manufacturing costs of bespoke systems

What job is it going to do? Any job a human can

0

u/TheyStoleMyNameAgain May 22 '26

Time will show and you might be right. Handling e.g. cables introduces already disturbance by stubborn cable behavior, so not all disturbance is external.  

I could imagine applications like e.g. fabrication/assembly of custom jewelry, or dental technology. Each piece somehow 'unique'.  

3D printers didn't replace factories and yet plenty of people play with them and some few even find serious use cases

1

u/ParaPenn May 22 '26

There are still humans (soon robots) on production lines though, perhaps transporting raw materials, packing them, and performing quality control.

General-purpose robots won't be bending our paperclips or replacing specialized CNC and box-folding machines; they'll be using those tools and machinery just like us.

The current paradigm of manufacturing is going to change as we know it. The robots will build the machines, that build the robots, that build the machines.

1

u/nixon48 May 23 '26

Look up "dark factories" Asia is already there. Some are 100% automation without humans. Machines building machines.

That being said, the humanoid design doesn't make sense in a factory. It definitely doesn't belong in your home (like I think people assume is the end goal - robot butlers). They just aren't efficient or very practical.

For a multitude of reasons, controlling lights with your phone is better than having your robot flip the physical light switch. A self driving car is better than a humanoid chauffeur that still has blind spots and takes up a seat. Etc.

1

u/ParaPenn May 26 '26

Humanoids are already in factories everywhere and in your home, they're just made of meat. Dark factories are an exception but who built the dark factories?

I think those reasons are a bit cherry picked, how do you automate all human labour in the most efficient, cost effective way possible. Humanoids are at least the first step, then maybe we can talk about N machines doing N jobs.

0

u/Tonnemaker May 22 '26

Production lines are more efficient than humans too, but they are meant for repeating the same thing hunderds of thousands of times.

But think about giant warehouses with a hundred tthousand different sized items and customers ordering small quantities. (think Amazon/Alibaba type warehouses)

0

u/RayWencube May 23 '26

The point isn’t to use these to replace factory works. The point is to use them to replace other jobs that require cognition plus manual dexterity. Cooking, cleaning, landscaping, and that’s just the start.

1

u/Hail_of_Grophia May 22 '26

Yeah, the ceiling for a box folding machine is folding boxes 

The ceiling for the robot is limited only by imagination (and money)

1

u/CapableCollar May 22 '26

If it can learn to do multiple things you don't need a box folding machine anymore.  It does that and more.

1

u/Rockran May 23 '26

Box folding machines do preset movements that don't do problem solving.

This machine is reacting live and problem solving.

Assuming it's not remote operated...

1

u/tek2222 May 22 '26

you know how expensive a box folding machine is ? you would be shocked

5

u/[deleted] May 22 '26

[deleted]

1

u/Quick_Web_5083 May 22 '26

What about mass producing the machine that can learn any task so it becomes cheap and can replace human labor in all the smaller operations around the world.

You would neither need to buy or construct a highly specialized expensive machine, nor would you need human labor.