This is today's edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology.
AI Breakthroughs in Robotics Won't Change Your Life Any Time Soon
The hype around humanoid robots is reaching fever pitch. Much of it stems from the idea that the same AI advances behind ChatGPT and Claude could enable robots to imitate human movement the way chatbots imitate human language. But many researchers are skeptical.
They argue that such assumptions minimize the challenges of using an intelligence built on language and images to master the infinite variability of the physical world. They also point out that conflating humanoids with so-called generalist machines is misleading.
Across robotics labs, tensions have emerged over whether current forms of AI are all that's needed to perfect all-purpose humanoids or whether an entirely new path is required.
Read the full story on what it will take to build truly general-purpose robots.
—Jamie Condliffe
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Also on the Download: Portable Rubber Dams and Nuclear Clocks
Scientists in Austria and China have built the first nuclear clocks. These clocks use atomic nuclei instead of electrons, potentially offering unprecedented precision. Meanwhile, engineers have developed portable rubber dams that can be rapidly deployed to control water flow in disaster zones or remote areas.
Stay tuned for more details on these stories.