Sanctuary AI, a Vancouver-based company, sees teleoperating physical robots as an important job of the future. The company believes this could teach robots how to carry out tasks they are currently not able to do and provide machines with a physical sense of the world. Industrial robots cannot perform delicate manipulation tasks, partly why robots in factories are still limited and require human workers to assemble parts. Teleoperating a robot could provide a solution to a shortage of labour. Sanctuary recently tested one of its robots through teleoperating in a store near its startup office. The company aims to use data from teleoperating robots to teach algorithms and create autonomous robots. OpenAI is investing $23.5m in 1X, a startup creating a human-like robot. Chelsea Finn, an assistant professor at UC Berkeley, is researching how machine learning can help cheap teleoperated robot arms work accurately and efficiently with humans. Teleoperating could make working from home possible for more people or make certain types of jobs more accessible. However, it may also create dystopian scenarios in the workplace.
“Enhance robot intelligence by adding human involvement.”
