In a recent development, Chinese humanoid robots have been showcasing their physical prowess on various occasions, from dancing on the Spring Festival Gala in January to participating in a half-marathon in March. Next on their agenda is an arrangement by the Chinese Communist authorities for boxing matches and track and field, gymnastics, and soccer competitions in an attempt to demonstrate the country’s leading position in the field of robotics to the world.
However, American experts have pointed out that these robots still have low intelligence, even likening them to blind and zombie-like. While Chinese robots have been in the spotlight, American robots are considered to be more intelligent, although they receive less attention.
China Central Television has announced that from August 15 to 17, Beijing will host the 2025 World Humanoid Robot Games, featuring 11 events including track and field, gymnastics, and soccer. To emphasize the importance of the event, the competitions will take place at the National Stadium (Bird’s Nest) and the National Speed Skating Hall (Ice Ribbon), both of which were originally built for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Additionally, since April, the robot company Yushu Technology has indicated its participation in robot combat competitions, namely the CMG World Robot Competition Series – Mech Combat Arena.
Just a month ago, China held the world’s first robot half-marathon race. Among the 21 humanoid robots that participated, only six successfully completed the race but failed to match the pace of human runners.
The fastest robot, TianGong, developed in collaboration between Chinese robot company YouSelect and the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, completed the race within two hours and forty minutes after having its battery changed three times and falling once.
The performance of other robots was less than impressive. One robot named HuanHuan, with a humanoid head, moved as slow as a snail within minutes, with its head shaking uncontrollably as if about to fall off at any moment. Some robots had their heads falling off multiple times during the race, requiring handlers to tape their heads back onto their bodies.
These robots appeared cumbersome, each surrounded by two to three human operators – one holding a control panel to give commands, while others guided the robots and cleared obstacles from their path.
Alan Fern, a professor of Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, and Robotics at Oregon State University, described these robots as “blind” and “zombie-like”.
Fern expressed to the media that when observing these robots in the marathon race, they seemed unaware of their surroundings, direction of movement, or the identity of others around them, displaying behavior akin to a blind individual.
Fern, jointly leading the Dynamic Robotics Lab at Oregon State University with Jonathan Hurst, dedicated to research aimed at enabling humanoid robots to perform real-world tasks through Artificial Intelligence. He is also the Director of Artificial Intelligence at the AgAID National Artificial Intelligence Research Institute, a collaboration between Oregon State University and Washington State University, focused on developing AI and robot solutions for specialty crop agriculture challenges.
Regarding the upcoming robot combat competition and sports games in China, Fern anticipates that the robots’ actions will still be controlled by humans using joysticks.
“The robots are equipped with built-in skills, such as throwing punches at opponents. They can be controlled for movement and speed using a joystick. However, they do not have awareness or intentionality. They cannot perceive their opponents, they are merely mindless zombies under control.”
Fern emphasized that the robots’ performance at the sports games highlights their low-level intelligence.
“The training required for robots to walk, run, balance, and execute punches in combat is at a very elementary stage of Artificial Intelligence, akin to a two-year-old learning to use their body and preventing falls at a higher level of intelligence.”
Fern mentioned that the technology showcased in the Chinese robot marathon race has existed for several years already. “Software and AI that keeps robots walking, running, and preventing falls exist in labs for a while. Thus, I don’t find it particularly advanced. So, I’d say that the Artificial Intelligence control displayed by the robots in the competition is not extraordinary.”
Fern explained that American companies producing humanoid robots have the technical capabilities to participate in a half-marathon.
“If an American company wishes to enter a half-marathon race with robots, there are no technical hurdles that would stop them. My lab can achieve that, but it can be costly. I am concerned that robots might break down. Therefore, we do not have enough resources to purchase a large number of robots and replace them. Nonetheless, from a technological standpoint, there are no obstacles.”
He stated that American companies have not sent robots to such performances because it holds no economic value for them. American companies develop robots to enter lucrative markets.
“If that is your goal, you would not spend time having your robots play games. So, maybe that’s it. They (American companies) either lack resources or are unwilling to spend resources to prepare game-playing robots. Robots are expensive. I run a lab. If you take your robot to some robot competition, something might break and the cost of breaking something is high. So, I think that might be why American companies haven’t organized such activities.”
Fern mentioned that taking robots to performances would not only be a waste of money but also a waste of time.
“You have to get your engineers involved. Time is pretty crucial. They should be focused on economically viable things because these companies have investors – you need to constantly show them you are progressing towards making money. Unless you can connect it with a story that says, ‘Oh, this will help us make money, earn profits,’ it’s not worth the time investment.”
“So, I think this is more about a time investment rather than a money investment. I mean money is one thing, but time is more essential.”
Despite American robots staying away from the limelight, Fern believes that they possess higher intelligence compared to Chinese robots.
“They (China) indeed value agility like running, jumping, karate kicks, etc. But American companies can do that with the resources invested – we know how to do it. They (American companies) prioritize task completion… attempting to highlight things that appear more intelligent, emphasizing higher levels of intelligence.”
“If you look at demonstrations by Boston Dynamics, Figure Robotics, Agility Robotics, or 1X Technologies, you can see they are more intelligent in what they do. Robots react. Verbal commands are issued, and they act.”
In demonstrations by Figure Robotics, humans handed a pile of items to two robots and instructed them to place them in appropriate spots – the robots proceeded to open the fridge, put ketchup and eggs inside, place apples in a fruit bowl, and discard an empty paper bag in the trash bin.
In Boston Dynamics demonstrations, a bulky robot resembling one in a spacesuit navigated effortlessly in a room cluttered with tables, crates, ramps, and long bars, at times single-handedly climbing over long bars, jumping from one table to another, or climbing stairs.
In Tesla’s demonstration, the Optimus robot removed a piece of black clothing from a laundry basket, placed it on a table, and folded it into a small square. In Neura Robotics’ demonstration, a robot sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, and assembled a sandwich.
Fern remarked, “I have not seen this type of demonstration from China. I see mostly dancing, kicks, running, essentially just sports, agility, and demonstration types. Now where are they (in terms of capability)? Maybe they just haven’t shown us the amazing AI they are developing. However, to my knowledge, no company hesitates to show the best they have to offer.”
Fern mentioned that his goal with robots is to make them force multipliers for human physical labor.
“We do not construct houses fast enough; it requires a considerable amount of physical labor. If we could have tenfold or more physical labor through robots, we could utilize them and create genuine value, genuine economic worth.”
“For a project requiring eleven construction workers, with a team of ten robots, you only need to control those ten robots rather than carrying out all the yardwork yourself. Humanoid robots aim to increase the available workforce and achieve this goal.”
Fern highlighted that the challenge in the development of humanoid robot technology is for robots to possess common sense, understand the physical world, and be versatile.
“You should be able to work anywhere, not just in a specific room or factory. You should be able to take them outdoors, point to anything, and say you want them to move those things over there. They should be able to do that. So, I believe reaching this level of intelligence requires research at universities and in large company labs. That’s the direction we are striving towards.”
He believes that the ultimate intelligence level for robots should be such that “you tell them to do anything, and they can do it.” “They can almost handle any physical task you request.” He believes achieving this goal would take at least a decade.
The 2024 sci-fi movie “Alien Battlefield” depicted a story where AI robots gain autonomous consciousness, attempting to destroy all humanity.
Some experts have estimated the probability of AI robots destroying humanity. For instance, Dario Amodei, CEO of the AI startup Anthropic, provided a range of 10% to 25%. Lina Khan, Chair of the Federal Trade Commission, believed the figure to be 15%. Emmett Shear, CEO of OpenAI, suggested the number to range between 5% to 50%.
However, Fern is less inclined to believe such a scenario would occur.
“When would robots want to begin (controlling or destroying humans)? Why would they want to? These (robots) are just software (controlled). It’s just operational software. I am more concerned about someone hacking into and making the robots break all your plates at home.”