Meet Ameca, supposedly the world’s most advanced humanoid robot - and possibly one of the creepiest.
Elon Musk might be working hard to get ahead in the AI race, Ameca has been 'designed to interact with humans for entertainment and research purposes,' according to CNBC News.
The robot is a product of Engineered Arts, founded by Will Jackson, and it combines artificial intelligence (AI) with an artificial body (AB).
Advert
"We've got all kinds of sensors over the robot's body, for the positions and the force within its fingers, arms, upper body."
As a result, Ameca's human movement, gestures and even facial recognition software make it realistic and unnerving to be around.
Even though the design team has tried to make Ameca 'obviously robotic' with a plain, grey face and visible mechanical parts, the reporter points out that it is 'unsettling' to be around.
Its 27 motors allow for a wide range of facial expressions, and it uses large language models like ChatGPT 4.0 to 'comprehend and interact with people.'
The problem with using OpenAI's model is that there's a lack of control.
Advert
"You don't have that much control. So we will also look at self-hosted models," Will added.
"We will have some customers who really don't like having cloud-based services and they want to have full control over what the data set is and the fine-tuning of the model."
At 187 cm (6 feet) tall and weighing 35 kg (77 lbs), Ameca isn’t yet mobile.
"For us, it's about, how do you feel about a robot that walks right up to you, presses its nose against yours and then says 'Hello'?" Will said.
Advert
Another challenge is the lack of motors that can truly replicate human muscle movement, beyond that of the current factory-working and hotel-running robots anyway!
It seems no kind of electric motor can replicate the exact properties of human muscles which makes picking up of 'hard and small objects' pretty difficult.
Nonetheless, 30 full-sized Amecas have been manufactured and delivered to 27 countries. Moreover, the hefty price tag of $250,000 might also put you off ever buying one if nothing else did!
Advert
People have been sharing their opinions of Ameca in the comments of the CNBC News YouTube video.
"I’m impatiently waiting for a humanoid robot that can keep my kitchen and bathroom clean for under $50K," said the first YouTube user.
"The most advanced in facial expression, in everything else it is way behind the competition," added a second user.
"'Most advanced' but cannot even walk," another joked.
Advert
"The head movement and facial expression are impressive, now combine them with the robots that can walk, and jump, it would put the robotic industry at least 5 years ahead," a fourth viewer wrote.