Automatons, for the people, shine at conference

Artificial intelligence will usher humanity into an era of abundance where "whatever one desires will be instantly obtainable", according to Elon Musk, CEO of electric vehicle maker Tesla.

Musk made the prediction in a video address to the sixth World Artificial Intelligence Conference, held in Shanghai from July 6 to July 8.

"In the future, it is projected that the number of robots on Earth will surpass the human population," Musk said, adding the powerful and efficient production capabilities of AI will usher humanity into an era of "post-scarcity".

More than 20 robots were exhibited during this year's event, many shown to the public for the first time.

Tesla exhibited its general-purpose worker droid, Optimus (see box). The shape of an average adult, the robot has 28 structural actuators to help its "body" move freely, with flexible hands enabling it to grip objects.

The robot can walk, climb up and down stairs, squat and fetch objects. It can also protect itself and people nearby. In the future it will be able to cook, mow the lawn, take care of elderly people, and replace humans doing boring and dangerous work in factories.

Chinese tech startup Fourier Intelligence unveiled its latest humanoid robot, GR-1, at the conference.

Using cognitive intelligence provided by tools such as ChatGPT, the robot is capable of collaborating with humans to complete various movements in industry, rehabilitative caring, household services, scientific research and more.

"General-purpose humanoid robots will gradually become a mainstream segment of the industry," Gu Jie, founder and CEO of Fourier Intelligence was quoted as saying by Xinhua News Agency.

In addition to the humanoid robots, robots with specific functions and applications also attracted wide interest.

Shanghai-based Clobotics displayed its intelligent blade internal inspection crawler for turbines for the first time.

The crawler removes the danger of people entering a turbine and improves the efficiency of inspections.

SenseTime exhibited two consumer products, an AI interactive Xiangqi, or Chinese chess, robot, and an AI interactive Go version of its SenseRobot.

The Chinese chess robot cannot only teach children how to play the game, but it is also capable of competing with master players.

The Go robot is equipped with cutting-edge AI and robotic-arm technologies that allow users to practice and play Go on a real board.

wang_ying@chinadaily.com.cn