What More Do Humanoids Need to Become Humans?
We are on the verge of physical AI. There has never been a time when we talked about this in real time. It’s no longer science fiction. The evolution of the next Homo sapiens is right around the corner. Can humans create a new living organism that takes us beyond today’s world?
This is a thought I always dreamt of. What if humans create AI and then leave the planet to them? Or retire. Or even coexist, much like how we and animals live together. Creating a far superior, novel, new specimen is on the verge of becoming a reality.
Why do I say this?
So far, all the efforts from mankind have been about creating new organisms. Cloning, crossbreeding, creating new animals, and much more. Ever since humans evolved, we’ve been trying to create co-living organisms to make life easier. For example, it was always about devices. Evolution led us from simple calculators to computers, laptops, and now mobiles, just to make things easier.
Humans have reached a phase where we no longer want to do hard tasks. All we want is to give instructions and have someone else do it. Historically, a specific set of humans had this thing in them. They used animals to do their job. They used fellow men as slaves. Then they used mechanical devices to complete their tasks.
These helpful tools have evolved from one-to-one interactions to something much bigger. Now with the advent of generative AI, it has gone to new heights.
Humanoids have been a constant in the science fiction genre. They’re always depicted as superior forms. Yet, in almost all stories, they need humans to survive. Why don’t these creators imagine humanoids as fully independent, human-like beings? They’ve always been constructed as human helpers. Don’t they deserve some love?
In the latest developments, NVIDIA’s Physical AI and Google’s recent announcements show that all major companies are heading toward one common destination: Physical AI.
So if Physical AI is the next step, what opportunities does this field offer?
Let’s first talk about human-like mechanics.
Humans are categorized by various motor mechanisms. We use a wide range of voluntary and involuntary muscles for movement. One company that has been consistently working on this for years is Boston Dynamics.
You’ve seen their videos. Robots slowly achieving human-like movements, step by step. Now even Chinese companies are catching up, especially N2,which does a front and backflip. And also Engine AI, the robotics firm from China that demoed their latest bot in Shenzhen.
And not to forget Tesla’s Optimus, the poster bot of America’s favourite tech leader and Trump’s most trusted patriot — Elon Musk. At the We Robot event last year, Optimus walked in, poured a few sips of wine, and pulled off some dance moves to light up the stage. Say what you want, but that moment screamed: “Robots are ready to mingle”
So yeah, the mechanics have come a long way. Human-like mechanics is a game changer for humanoids. To be completely honest, I believe this is the most sought-after part of humanoid development. And finally, after all these years, the hard work is starting to show results.
But hold on. There are still many industries that could benefit big time from the rise of humanoids. And if my calculations are right, we are not far from the entire tech industry aligning toward one common goal: preparing the next species for this world.
This article is just the beginning. A series of industry-specific blogs is coming your way. In the next one, we’ll dive into one of the least-discussed industries for humanoids. So make sure you follow me on Twitter to catch that.
Until next time, let’s allow our human curiosity to take over and lead us into more fantasies, ideas, and breakthroughs.
Note: This blog has been completely written by me and given to AI for grammar and other checks. Personally, I despise AI detection tools. There is far more creativity involved when you generate articles from AI than when you actually write. So avoid checking whether it’s generated by AI and just enjoy reading.