Depending on who you ask, the future of AI is incredible, terrifying, or maybe a bit of both. Mostly, in my opinion, it's unknowable, but that hasn't stopped some among us from hazarding a guess.
That includes Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang who, in a recent episode of Cleo Abram's Huge Conversations, made quite a few bold claims, including some extra-bold comments about robotics.
"Everything that moves will be robotic someday, and it will be soon," Huang said. "And every car is going to be robotic. Humanoid robots, the technology necessary to make it possible, is just around the corner."
2035: Will it be the year everyone has their own R2-D2?
Huang's statement that "Everything that moves will be robotic someday" was in response to Abram asking, "If you play this out 10 years, how do you see people actually interacting with this technology in the near future?"
Earlier in the conversation, Huang discussed how the last 10 years has held more of a focus on the science of AI, but that the next 10 years will hone in on the application science of AI.
"The applied research, the application side of AI now becomes: How can I apply AI to digital biology? How can I apply AI to climate technology? How can I apply AI to agriculture, to fishery, to robotics, to transportation, optimizing logistics?" Huang says. He goes on to offer teaching and podcasting as other potential applications for AI, all in all suggesting that there's a way for AI to be involved in every single aspect of life.
Huang believes Nvidia will have a big role to play in this robot-forward, futuristic world that's run by AI. Nvidia created Omniverse, which Abram describes as "3D worlds that help train robotic systems so that they don’t need to train in the physical world," and Cosmos, responsible for developing "ways to make that 3D universe much more realistic."
With Omniverse and Cosmos working together, it's now possible for a robot to learn through digital simulations rather than real-world experiences. For example, a factory-bound robot could digitally learn "every route that it could take, instead of manually going through all of those routes, which could take days and could be a lot of wear and tear on the robot," Abram explains.
Through this method specifically, learning becomes faster for robots. And it's because of this unique learning method that Huang wholeheartedly believes, "A future where you’re just surrounded by robots is for certain."
He goes on to say he's excited "about having [his] own R2-D2," and that this robot will sometimes be available in his smart glasses, sometimes in his phone, his PC, or his car, with a "physical version of R2" waiting at home.
Perhaps the wildest statement Huang makes in his conversation with Abram is: "I think the idea that we’ll have our own R2-D2 for our entire life and it grows up with us, that’s a certainty now."
That's wild for two reasons. First, the idea that humanoid robots will be capable enough to essentially be the Alfred to our Batman in everyday life is a lofty one. And second, I can't imagine a world in which the cost is low enough for everyone to have their "own R2-D2" or a world in which everyone even wants their own personal humanoid robot.
That said, people have cast aspersions on lots of now-successful tech before it became mainstream, so it's hard to say for sure. Maybe robot ubiquity is just around the bend, or maybe Huang's optimism is a bit premature. In either case, it'll be fun to watch what unfolds next.
