MIT Roboticist Rodney Brooks Warns Humanoid Robot Investment Bubble Nears Burst

Rodney Brooks, a renowned roboticist and co-founder of iRobot, warns that the current surge in investment in humanoid robots is a bubble set to burst. He criticizes companies like Tesla and Figure for relying on the flawed idea that robots can learn complex human tasks merely by watching videos, calling this "pure fantasy thinking." Brooks highlights the complexity of human touch, noting that human hands have around 17,000 specialized sensors, a capability robots have yet to approach, and stresses the lack of accumulated tactile data needed for machine learning in robotics. He also raises safety concerns, pointing out that full-sized humanoid robots consume vast amounts of energy to maintain balance and could cause serious harm if they fall, with larger robots posing exponentially greater risks. Looking ahead, Brooks predicts that successful robots in about 15 years will likely abandon the two-legged human form in favor of wheeled designs with multiple arms and custom sensors tailored for practical tasks. Despite market optimism and projected growth in the humanoid robot sector, Brooks believes the current funding is primarily fueling costly R&D experiments unlikely to reach widespread, affordable production.