Insights · January 6th, 2023
Vancouver-based Sanctuary AI says building human-level artificial intelligence that can execute human tasks safely requires a deep understanding of the living mind and they are exploring new possibilities. But, is it the world’s smartest robot?
In 2018, Geordie Rose (formerly of quantum computing pioneers D*Wave), Suzanne Gildert, Olivia Norton, and Ajay Agrawal (a fantastic AI speaker we’ve had the opportunity to work with) established Sanctuary as ‘a safe place for those with a shared passion in AI and robotics to gather and work collaboratively on perhaps the most complex technical challenge in front of humankind: how to build a human-like brain and system that’s capable of executing human-like tasks in a safe way.’
Sanctuary is on a mission to create the world’s first human-like intelligence in general-purpose robots. This sounds sexy but really they are trying to solve some very tricky problems with computer vision and robotics and are shirking off the fancy ‘dancing robots’ PR circus sideshow. It’s a breath of fresh air.
Their ‘Robots doing stuff’ video series on Youtube is inspiring as it shows the intricacy needed in modern android-robotic applications.
A Sanctuary general-purpose robot plays with a ziploc bag:
Tries to make a turkey sandwich:
And, even plays Jenga:
It’s a great reminder that our futures are unlikely to be all whizz-bang Jetson-like futures where we live a Gattaca / Logan’s Run / Demolition Man / Minority Report-esque existence. Our futures will be terribly mudane. And, that’s OK.
We tend to say that our futures will look quite similar, they may just operate under the surface differently.
The World’s Smartest Robot Is Living in Vancouver
Hello World’s Ashlee Vance heads to Vancouver to see the startup’s progress toward bringing robots to life.
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Nikolas Badminton is the Chief Futurist at futurist.com. He’s a world-renowned futurist speaker, consultant, author, media producer, and executive advisor that has spoken to, and worked with, over 300 of the world’s most impactful organizations and governments. He helps shape the visions that shape impactful organizations, trillion-dollar companies, progressive governments, and 200+ billion dollar investment funds.
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