Robots do not outperform humans yet. Will AI change this?

The incessant progress of robotic technology and rationalization of human manpower induces high expectations in society, but also resentment and even fear. This talk should shine light onto the pressing question, whether robots already outperform humans in human-centered domains. Most state-of-the-art robotic structures required for visual, tactile, or vestibular perception already outperform human anatomical structures. Even electromagnetic and fluidic actuation outperform human muscles w.r.t. speed, endurance, force density, and power density. Artificial joints and links can compete with the human skeleton. In contrast, the comparison of functions, such as locomotion, object manipulation, and many daily living activities, shows that robots are trailing behind in performance, energy efficiency or operational time. Despite the impressive advances of humanoid robots in the last two decades and despite the outperforming technical structures, current humanoid robots are far from matching the dexterity and versatility of human beings. The persistent advances in robotics and artificial intelligence let us anticipate the diminishing of the gap.

Our speaker Robert Riener is full professor of Sensory-Motor Systems at ETH Zurich and full professor of medicine at the University of Zurich, Switzerland.

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