I’m Your Robot

Not long ago, humanoid robots clumsily walked and struggled to maintain their balance. Today, they perform Kung fu, play chess, and are learning to work in factories. Robotics is advancing particularly rapidly in China. This film explores how far the industry has come and what modern robots are capable of.

An impressive somersault is not yet proof of true intelligence. A dance can be preprogrammed, but picking up an unfamiliar glass or neatly folding clothes is much more challenging. Unlike language models that learn from texts and other digital information, robots must navigate the physical world—understanding the shape, weight, and properties of objects. To teach robots how to act in real life, people don special sensor-equipped suits and record every movement, creating a unique “alphabet” of reactions for the machines.

In the future, robots will help with household chores, shop for groceries, and even look after pets. However, their batteries drain quickly, databases are still insufficient, and machines may become “confused” when faced with objects of unusual shape. When robots can exist in the world of objects as confidently as humans do, watch for it in the new RT.Doc film.

Watch “I’m Your Robot” on RTD website and on RT’s live feed. The time of the broadcast is available on RT’s schedule page.