Figure’s Brett Adcock Sold Investors A Humanoid Future. Now He Has To Build It.

Wow they have seen Musks scam and thought let’s throw money this rubbish as well

Humanoids currently can’t take any job (except entertainer). Even when they’re teleoperated, they can barely fold a shirt. So if a human brain can’t make a humanoid do a job in a practical manner, why would an artificial one do any better?

Hands and brains aren’t the only problem.

Fanuc ABB Rockwell Siemens Cognex Schneider Keyence etc etc dozens of companies have been replacing people with automation for decades so why aren’t they making humanoids? Do all of them lack foresight? Are they sitting around waiting for a humanoid or or some “Physical AI” to use their products? No, they have already incorporated AI into them! The “AI revolution” has already been underway. There is nothing new happening except now the tech bros want mechanical slaves and don’t realize they already have them. Smart automation already exists. “Physical AI” is just a new buzzword.

UNDERSTAND THIS !!
Automation has been replacing people in factories for decades and it hasn’t stopped, so if a humanoid can do it, it’s ALREADY automated! Because a humanoid IS just automation. So there are NO jobs for it in a factory!

Fact: A humanoid uses state of the art technology in hardware and software(AI) and is meant to replace labor.
Fact: Factories use automation with state of the art technology in hardware and software(AI) to replace labor.
Fact: Improvements in technology apply to both, so FUTURE humanoids will never have a place in factories either.
See the problem? It’s putting a mechanical horse in front of a horseless carriage. Same as having a humanoid drive a car to make a Robotaxi.

There is a company already making autonomous mobile welding robots because it makes more sense than a humanoid welder. Should a future robot electrician/plumber have built in power tools and cameras at the tools? Or is a humanoid going to carry hand tools around and stick his head under the sink to fix it? Farming robots are not humanoids. Amazon is not replacing people with humanoids. Factory robots already use Vision and AI. BMW is trying to use humanoids but a configurable AMR would have far fewer parts and therefore better reliability and performance at a lower cost than a mass produced complicated humanoid robot with weak fingers instead of strong grippers.

Many seem to think factory jobs are easier than other jobs, they are not. A lousy housekeeper won’t cut it. It can’t work at McDonalds because the hands can’t bag items, make change, crack eggs, wrap burgers, wash etc. Also it should be obvious that AGI does not need a humanoid to replace someone working at a desk. But they would be really nice if a disabled person could use it as a telepresence to go shopping, do simple chores, etc. TAM will be small. There will be more AMR’s than “working” humanoids.

Hot, heavy, dirty and dangerous jobs. There are 100s of millions of them around the world. And if a humanoid could actually do it, LOL, without overheating, LOL, most of those jobs pay super low wages in places where there is no electricity to charge it anyway.

Hands are underestimated. They can wash themselves! (a must for many jobs) They can sense pressure AND the direction of pressure on ALL surfaces. When you put a lid on a paper cup you don’t crush it because your soft palm can feel the pressure around the lid. Soft fingertips can open a plastic bag, grasp and manipulate small parts without looking, sense when something might slip, feel slight imperfections, pick up a marker and write, thread a needle, handle money, etc. etc.
Emulating a hand is impractical and unnecessary.

It’s really the antitheses of first principles. If the goal is to emulate a human then you must make a humanoid/android. But if the goal is doing things that a human can do, then first principles DOES NOT dictate a humanoid So AI is already “embodied” or “physical” because automation didn’t wait for a humanoid. And if you do want to emulate a human, you must choose which characteristics you want. It may need sensitive hands to feel slight imperfections or it may need durable hands for hard work. So a one-size-fits-all like Optimus is not practical.

“it’s a humanoid so it can work in a human environment” The humanoid form or its brain doesn’t matter. What matters is what it can do! They can be lousy housekeepers, tour guides, toys, entertainers, criminals, spies etc.

Another we work

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤