What it will take for robots to start doing our chores
Technology is changing so quickly that it’s hard to separate hype from reality. This is especially true in robotics. We’re told the future of robotic cars has arrived. And yet over 2 million Teslas had to be recalled due to safety concerns about the Autosteer feature. California suspended the permits that let Cruise operate its much-hyped robotaxis.
Daniela Rus is optimistic that these kinds of kinks will be worked out very soon — and that robots will soon greatly improve our personal and professional lives.
Rus is a roboticist, director of MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, and a MacArthur “genius” fellow. In the new book “The Heart and the Chip: Our Bright Future With Robots,” she and coauthor Gregory Mone argue that robots will essentially be giving us superpowers before long. They seem to imagine something of a mash-up between Disneyland and SkyMall: robotic toys that kids find more engaging than computer screens, drones delivering fresh produce to our doors, garbage cans that take themselves out, self-driving cars that help young parents coordinate carpool schedules, and much more.
My interview with Rus has been edited and condensed.
Why is the book titled “The Heart and the Chip”?
I want to portray a future where humans, the heart, work together side by side with robots, the chip, teaming for a better world. When people ask me what I do as a roboticist, I often hear about machines taking over our jobs and the world. I want to highlight that machines don’t have to compete with humans, because we each have different strengths. Humans have wisdom. Machines have speed, can process large
numbers, and can do many dull, dirty, and dangerous tasks.
Where are most robots doing the most good today?
Robots have transformed industrial manufacturing. Over 30 million robots are working on assembly lines and doing extraordinary feats. Yet these robots remain isolated on the factory floor because they’re large, heavy, and dangerous to be around. Indeed, most of these robots are caged to keep people at a safe distance. For the heart and the chip to work together, we need to rethink what a robot is made of, what it looks like, and what kinds of things it can do.
For example?
Most of the robots we have today come in one of two shapes. They’re inspired by humans — humanoid robots and robot arms — or we’ve got boxes on wheels.
But if we look at our built environment and nature, we see a wide variety of shapes and materials. I want to expand our view of robots to include more shapes and materials. I would like to have supple robots, robots that can coexist as part of a team with humans, and robots that can automate everyday tasks. Maybe your chair or table could be robots. You could say, “Chair, come over here.” Or “Table, bring me my cookies.”
Why would we want chairs like that?
A robot chair could be useful in various ways. It could automatically adjust to provide optimal ergonomic support, adapting to the user’s posture and reducing the risk of back pain or discomfort. For people with mobility issues, a robotic chair could assist in standing up or sitting down or enable users to easily reposition themselves in a room without physical effort. A robotic wheelchair could also integrate health monitoring functions.
There are many other examples of everyday objects that can be transformed into robots. Picture a room where the entire space is a robotic entity, capable of transforming its layout and functionality on demand. Furniture pieces embedded in walls or ceilings could emerge or retract, morphing the room from a cozy living room to a functional office, a spacious dining area, or a comfortable bedroom on command to meet the owner’s needs. This robotic room would not only maximize the use of space: Imagine a selforganizing room that tidies itself up — it’s like having the Cat in the Hat’s mobile — and it could even keep track of where you left your keys.
Your book talks about seven superpowers you’d like robots to have. How do you think each of them could be useful to humans?
Some already exist as products or in research labs. And some live in the imagination of researchers. But they’ll soon become products.
The first superpower is strength. Robots can give us more endurance, the ability to lift and carry heavy things, and the ability to move faster.
Then there’s reach, which is about being able to see or act in a world that is far away from us. Robots on Mars extend our reach by allowing us to see what’s happening there. In my research, I have greatly enjoyed the reach I got with drones to see into the secret lives of animals and better understand their lives and how they fit on our majestic planet.
Lift is about overcoming gravity — about being able to fly like Iron Man.
Time is about gaining one of our most precious resources — getting machines to do things for us so we can have the time to do what we enjoy.
Vision is about enhancing what we can see with our naked eyes. For example, we can use machine learning coupled with robotic technologies to see motion patterns in the shadows at street corners. Sounds strange — but self-driving vehicles are safer when their sensors can see what’s around the corner by looking at shadows.
Precision is fine motion. We already see this at some level in industrial automation. But it could do so much for us in other settings, especially in health care for surgical procedures.
The final superpower is magic. With new materials, new robotic capabilities, and support from algorithms, things that we associate with heroes from books and movies can become a reality. For example, we can make an invisibility cloak.
What technical obstacles need to be overcome to give us the best possible future with robots?
Right now, robotics is mostly an activity designed for experts. You really need to know what you’re doing to make a functional robot. I would like it to be much easier to design and create robots. But we don’t have those tools yet.
Then there are obstacles with the robot’s body. As I’ve mentioned, robot bodies are currently made from a very limited set of materials that give us very rigid structures. A wider range of materials, including softer ones, would enable robots to do more.
We also need better batteries. For example, part of the reason we don’t have flying cars is that we don’t have batteries with the right power density.
We also don’t have very good robot hands, good sensor skin, or good ways of measuring what’s happening as machines interact with the world. That’s why sending robots to space to explore Mars is easier than getting a robot to clear your table after a dinner party.
Finally, robot brains are algorithms that allow them to make sense of and interact with the world. Although we’ve made a lot of progress, we still have a way to go.
Do robots pose a threat to the availability or quality of jobs?
I see robots as helpers for our jobs. They’ll take on the routine, repetitive tasks, ensuring human workers focus on more complex and meaningful work. For example, my mother was in the hospital a couple of years ago and she had appointments with her physical therapy team. They spent 40 minutes taking her to and from the gym and 20 minutes working with her at the gym. So in an hour they only spent 20 minutes applying their expertise. But if there had been a robotic wheelchair that could have transported my mother, they could have used their skills better. This is the kind of example to keep in mind when you think about how robots and people can work together.
Economists estimate that over 60 percent of jobs performed today were nonexistent before 1940. Echoing that, the rise of robots promises to create many new kinds of jobs: robot operators, ethics officers, analysts of robotgenerated data, user experience designers, and so on.
Evan Selinger is a professor of philosophy at the Rochester Institute of Technology and a frequent contributor to Globe Ideas. Follow him@evanselinger.