I used to hate doing laundry. Just hated it. Now that we’re empty-nesters, there is much less laundry. And surprisingly, I kind of miss the chaos. 

But back then, a laundry-folding humanoid robot would have been helpful. Not that I would have bought one, of course. Much too expensive, and I was way too paranoid. I learned my lesson about this with the robot vacuum we barely used.

If you have $8k or more laying around somewhere (perhaps under a pile of laundry), then you can now purchase your very own laundry-folding humanoid. It will even make beds and straighten up the living room. 

But how do humanoid robots learn to perform chores?

By watching us. 

Robotics companies need lots of video-based egocentric data to study how humans actually do tasks. 

Factories in India are even strapping cameras to employees’ foreheads to record their actions for help in training AI robots. Imagine doing physical labor for a job that you need, knowing that you’re training a robot replacement.

And apparently there are also lots of egocentric data collection companies all around the world looking to hire people willing to train AI, by recording themselves doing tasks like laundry, dishes, construction work – anything requiring physical human activity. 

Me? 

I’ll just be over here, doing my own laundry and dishes. Not wearing a camera. Not using a humanoid robot.

You know, like a plain ol’ regular human.

Here are some other things I’m thinking about this week…

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Something New:

• Humanoid robots perform first-ever live surgery. Researchers from the University of California San Diego developed two humanoid robots who just conducted surgery on large non-primate mammals using standard handheld surgery instruments. While robotic arms and surgery systems have been used for a while, these five-foot tall, sixty pound teleoperated humanoids are more versatile and take up less space in operating rooms. A win for the healthcare crisis? Or a terrifying new tool for Skynet? Only time will tell.

Something Old:

• The Jetsons (orig. 1962). An animated sitcom, The Jetsons eerily predicted much of today’s technology – including robot maids, automated work, video calls, and smart watches. Warner Bros is reportedly working on a live action remake of The Jetsons, and I’m interested to see how they incorporate real-world tech developments. With the added fictional bonus of flying cars, of course.

Something Inspiring:

• New York issues pause on AI datacenters. New York has just become the first state to require a one-year moratorium on new datacenters. With the dizzying pace of AI acceleration, any little resistance helps to give society time to catch up. The pause will allow lawmakers to evaluate environmental impacts, energy demand, and water usage. Maybe other states will follow NY’s example.

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Okay, that’s all for now. Join me here next week for more.