Robots: Coworkers or competitors?

DW (English)

Humanoid robots could soon be working on the assembly lines at a BMW plant in the US. A pilot project is also underway at Mercedes. Which other industries might soon be making human workers obsolete?

Transcript

00:00Watch out! Robots like these are taking over at BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Amazon.

00:08But are they our new co-workers or competitors?

00:16It's crazy to see how fast this technology is advancing.

00:20Will millions of robots soon take our jobs?

00:24Hopefully not like this.

00:27Robots could soon be working as physiotherapists and much more.

00:31But are they really about to take over?

00:37At BMW's US plant, humanoid robots like Figure-02

00:41are testing their skills in car body construction,

00:44performing tasks similar to humans.

00:47We want to engage with this disruptive technology at a very early stage

00:52to understand how we can better use AI in our production systems

00:56and where it truly makes sense.

01:00Figure-02 costs an estimated 80,000 euros,

01:04with yearly maintenance at 4,000 euros.

01:08It can handle repetitive physically demanding tasks,

01:11but it is still fairly slow.

01:15We estimate it can perform about 40-50% as well as a human.

01:26But it's worth noting that the humanoid robot has some advantages.

01:30Apart from battery changes and occasional maintenance,

01:34it doesn't need breaks.

01:36It doesn't stop working after eight hours,

01:38which quickly brings down the average cost per hour.

01:42Before robots can get started,

01:45they need to be shown exactly what to do,

01:48a labor-intensive process.

01:50Even Tesla faces this set-up phase,

01:53and anything more than simple tasks is currently out of reach.

02:02In tasks requiring high variation or flexibility,

02:06robots still lag behind.

02:09And with complex tasks, not just simple motions

02:12like moving objects from A to B,

02:15they can't yet match human abilities.

02:26Robots and humans will need to collaborate in the future,

02:29but how can robots communicate effectively in everyday tasks?

02:34We hope communication will be intuitive,

02:38using natural language models,

02:41and some level of environmental understanding.

02:48China is planning to start producing assembly-line robots by 2025,

02:53though that may be optimistic.

02:57We're seeing large-scale applications ready for market

03:01within the next two to three years,

03:03likely by 2026 to 2028,

03:06with robots appearing in even greater numbers in industry.

03:13In any case, robots will need to be able to communicate

03:16and communicate with each other,

03:19and that's what we're working on.

03:26Robots will need to advance further,

03:28not just for simple tasks like this.

03:31The goal for the next generation of robots is autonomy.

03:35They should require minimal programming

03:38and ideally learn on their own through voice commands

03:41or observational learning,

03:44enabling BMW to automate tasks previously considered unachievable.

03:51It's hard to predict how many jobs robots will eventually replace.

03:55The auto industry aims to save millions on labor,

03:58but humans will still be needed in production,

04:01at least in the near future.

04:03Robots are on their way into our daily lives,

04:06and sooner than we might think.

Category

Transcript

Recommended