We May Not Know How Strong AI Humanoid Robots Really Are
Robot demonstrations and lawsuits raise questions and concerns about the capabilities – and strength – of humanoid robots.
Robotics company Figure AI is the first to be in the spotlight. She faces a lawsuit filed by former security engineer Robert Gruendel. The lawsuit alleges that the company’s Figure 02 humanoid was found in testing to be strong enough to “fracture a human skull,” and that Gruendel was fired after raising concerns.
A recent lawsuit alleges that the humanoid Figure 02 shown during testing was strong enough to “fracture a human skull.”
In a statement to CNBC, a Figure spokesperson denied the allegations and said Gruendel was fired for “poor performance.” We have contacted Figure and Gruendel through his attorneys and have not yet received a response.
Across the globe, the CEO of Chinese robotics company Engine AI was recently knocked down by the company’s own T800 robot, appropriately (or inappropriately) sharing a name with the robot model played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the Terminator films.
The CEO wore padding and was prepared for the stunt, but it is difficult to discern from the video itself and the available information the exact strength of the robot.
Engine AI’s T800 humanoid robot gets into a situation.
Maximum torque and load capacity do not easily translate into a calculation of how hard a robot could hit or how much damage it could potentially cause to a human body.
Taken together, these two parallel news stories raise questions about what kind of information developers of humanoid robots should share so that the risks of this technology are properly understood.
To see these two robots in action, check out the latest episode of What the Future, embedded in this article.
