[휴머노이드가 온다③]Humanoid robot, ‘the final puzzle’ completed with AI

[산업일보]
“Even though humanoid robots could implement movements and forms similar to humans, ‘intelligence’ remained a limitation. However, with the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), the final puzzle of ‘intelligence’ was completed, and a new path for humanoid robots was opened.”

Jaekwon Han, associate professor of robotics engineering at Hanyang University (Chief Technology Officer of A Robot), who met at ‘ROBOT WORLD 2024’, evaluated the combination of humanoid robots and AI as follows.

The uniqueness of humanoid robots came with the generative AI craze. This opens up new uses and possibilities, such as installing a large language model (LLM) on a humanoid robot to communicate and perform tasks by responding to commands in real time.

The final puzzle of humanoid robots, ‘intelligence’

Robots, which used to perform simple repetitive tasks at manufacturing sites, have become able to perform more complex tasks thanks to advances in sensors, control technology, and moving parts. However, it was optimized to suit the characteristics of the work and only performed certain tasks and did not show various movements such as running or walking.

In 2015, ‘Boston Dynamics’ surprised the world by introducing a robot that naturally implemented the movements of animals and people, but limitations still remained. Engineers had to manually manipulate it through programming, and its applications were limited.

It was after the emergence of generative AI that the waters of innovation burst. As AI is applied to vision, voice recognition, and natural language processing, the possibility of robots recognizing their environment and creating optimal movements opens up.

Associate Professor Jaekwon Han said, “For a humanoid robot to perform various tasks, it must be able to determine for itself what type of work it is and how to work. It was difficult to implement with programming, so even humanoid robots were thought to be impossible, but generative AI has the potential to do so.” “By showing this, I came into the spotlight again,” he said.

Beyond the ‘Large Language Model (LLM)’ that processes and generates language data, the ‘Large Multimodal Mode (LMM)’ that recognizes and generates various data such as voice, image, and video, and behavioral patterns The fact that AI algorithms, such as the Large Action Model (LAM), which can learn and directly operate the web and apps, are becoming more sophisticated is also good news for humanoid robots. The level of interaction increases as robots see, hear, recognize, and act in human language and real-world objects.

Associate Professor Han said, “The race to collect behavioral data has begun to create LBM (Large Behavior Model), an AI model that allows robots to move on their own.” He added, “A-Robot collects behavioral data by having the robot imitate human movements. “There is,” he explained.

What do humanoid robots in industrial settings look like?

Jaekwon Han, Associate Professor, Department of Robotics Engineering, Hanyang University

What will humanoid robots in industrial settings look like? Associate Professor Jaekwon Han (A-Robot’s Chief Technology Officer) said, “The era in which humanoid robots only walk, run, and show performance has already passed, and they must become beings that can help and replace human tasks.”

“Humans do countless things with their hands, and when they use tools, the types of work increase to thousands,” he said. “A-Robot performs tasks that robots can perform, such as holding and moving objects and manipulating tools.” “We are increasing it step by step,” he said.

Concerns about robots replacing human jobs were responded to by saying, “Look at the empty manufacturing sites.” There are more vacant jobs than jobs to be taken away due to demographic changes in which the youth population is rapidly decreasing.

Associate Professor Han emphasized, “Manufacturing sites are closing down because there are no people to work,” adding, “Humanoid robots will be an alternative to fill empty jobs.”

“Humanoid ‘smartphone’ level destructive power… ‘Humanoid sovereignty’ must be protected”

Service robot greeting visitors

What is the outlook for humanoid robots? Eom Yoon-seol, CEO of A-Robot, emphasizes that humanoids have technological destructive power comparable to that of ‘smartphones.’

He said, “Just as we cannot go back to the days without smartphones, we will not be able to go back to the way things were before after the commercialization of humanoids,” and added, “Just as countries around the world compete for ‘artificial intelligence sovereignty,’ we must also take care of ‘humanoid sovereignty.’”

The essential factor for commercialization was ‘price competitiveness’. First of all, the price must be low to meet consumers and corporate customers. He explained, “Even if American humanoids are technologically superior, they will not be able to stop the low-priced Chinese products,” and added, “If they are not price competitive, Korean humanoids may also be taken over by Chinese robots.”

Associate Professor Jaekwon Han said he hopes the domestic humanoid robot ecosystem will expand. The underlying technology and potential are sufficient, but there is a lack of ecosystem participants. He said, “It is true that there has been a lack of investment in humanoids due to the perception that they ‘don’t make money,’ but I hope that the number of players playing with AI will increase as new possibilities open up.”