Well, many of our worst fears are coming true!

Robots that kind of sort of look like humans are doing jobs that actual people used to do.

The future is now, and we all still have a lot of questions about how this is going to turn out.

BMW has announced that it’s signed a deal with robotics firm Figure to bring these humanesque robots into their Spartanburg, South Carolina.

Check out this demo from Figure’s X account, which demonstrates the robot’s ability to do complex tasks and explain why it’s doing them.

With OpenAI, Figure 01 can now have full conversations with people

-OpenAI models provide high-level visual and language intelligence
-Figure neural networks deliver fast, low-level, dexterous robot actions

Everything in this video is a neural network: pic.twitter.com/OJzMjCv443

— Figure (@Figure_robot) March 13, 2024

They put out a press release detailing their plans.

“The bots will be used to automate difficult, unsafe, or tedious tasks throughout the manufacturing process. This will free workers to focus on skills and processes that cannot be automated.”

So you see, it’s all for our own good!

That said, they don’t seem to actually know what the robots will be doing on a day-to day, as part of the first phase of the agreement involves Figure “identifying initial use cases to apply the Figure robots in automotive production.”

In another video, Figure shows how the robot’s system optimizes small tasks, like making sure coffee can get made correctly.

Previously, automotive manufacturers have used single-purpose robots or machines to automate specific factory tasks.

These general purpose bots, or ones that could execute a variety of tasks, are totally different.

Check out the video…

Last month we demonstrated Figure 01 making coffee only using neural networks

This is a fully learned, end-to-end visuomotor policy mapping onboard images to low level actions at 200hz

Next up: excited to push the boundaries on AI learning with OpenAIpic.twitter.com/DNAZWnaYK3

— Figure (@Figure_robot) February 29, 2024

Figure CEO Brett Adcock is pretty sure his robots are going to revolutionize manufacturing.

“The potential of general-purpose robotics is completely untapped, and will enable companies to increase productivity, reduce costs, and create a safer and more consistent environment.”

If the integration at BMW goes well, surely other manufacturers will follow in their wake. The robots don’t take lunch breaks, after all, and they can’t file for workman’s comp, either.

The UAW (United Auto Workers) will surely have something to say about it, as they’ve been forceful on their stance as far as automatons in the past.

As of now, Americans employed by foreign companies aren’t allowed to be part of the union, but that could always change.

I’m not sure I’m ready for human-looking robots working a factory line.

But I suppose there’s no stopping progress.