AI Robotics company, Figure AI, has revealed significant progress in achieving its mission to “expand human capabilities through advanced AI” by demonstrating how its artificial intelligence (AI) performs a vital human task: making coffee.
The American firm’s research and development work focuses on training robots to perform everyday tasks that humans do both at home and in the workplace. Figure claims there are 10 million “unfilled” jobs in the US in sectors like logistics, retail and transportation which robot workers could fill in the future.
While robotic workers at scale as a while of yet, the company is making steps in the right direction.
Figure AI founder, Brett Adcock, has taken to X (formerly Twitter) to reveal that its robot, Figure-01, has successfully learned how to make coffee. While that doesn’t seem too impressive at the surface level, Adcock goes on to explain that the reason this is such a groundbreaking achievement is that “if you can get human data for an application (making coffee, folding laundry, warehouse work, etc) you can then train an AI system end-to-end on Figure-01.
“There is a patch to scale at every use case.”
In the video Adcock posted to X, it’s claimed it took 10 hours to train Figure-01 how to use a coffee machine to make a cup of coffee, including putting the coffee pod in and pressing the button to start brewing. It’s prompted to do so simply by being asked ‘can you make me a cup of coffee?’
It then goes on to show how Figure-01 also learned how to correct its mistakes in the process, like placing the coffee pod into the machine incorrectly.
Figure-01 has learned to make coffee ☕️
Our AI learned this after watching humans make coffee
This is end-to-end AI: our neural networks are taking video in, trajectories out
Join us to train our robot fleet: https://t.co/egQy3iz3Kypic.twitter.com/Y0ksEoHZsW
— Brett Adcock (@adcock_brett) January 7, 2024
Who is Figure AI?
As the debate surrounding the ethical dilemmas of AI rumbles on, Figure AI’s founder, Adcock, aims to use AI purely for the benefit of humanity. In what is labeled the “Master Plan” on the business’ website, Adcock writes: “I believe that positively affecting the future of humanity is the moral priority of our time.
“In the coming age we will see greater advancements in AI and Robotics, and by contributing in the early stages, we can set the course for a positive AI future for humanity.”
The company sees a real possibility that in the future, AI-powered robots that can “learn, reason and interact with their environments will eventually be capable of performing tasks better than humans.” They go on to say that they see a future where humanoids will revolutionize a variety of industries, from caring for the elderly to “building new worlds on other planets.”
Don’t get too excited yet. We’re not going to see robot workers on Mars for some time. Figure AI admits that in the early stages, their applications will be in industries on Earth where labor shortages are highest.
But if you’re worried that these humanoids will eventually put you out of a job altogether, the company reassures everyone by confirming “our focus is on providing resources for jobs that humans don’t want to perform.”
Featured Image: Figure AI, via X
