The first collective interview session of the "Members' Channel" for the Fourth Session of the 13th Sichuan Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference was held on the morning of February 2 in Chengdu. Xu Ke, a member of the Sichuan Provincial Committee of the CPPCC and Chief AI Scientist at ZTE Microelectronics, who has over a decade of experience in artificial intelligence research, shared his insights on the topic of how humanoid robots can become commonplace in ordinary homes.
"I'd like to share an interesting observation. In recent years, artificial intelligence, especially large language models, has been busy writing poetry and creating paintings, assisting us with creative tasks. Yet, when we return home each day, we still have to do the laundry, cook meals, and clean the house," Xu Ke began humorously. "Therefore, I believe the value of humanoid robots lies precisely in this mismatch—only when robots help us handle daily chores will we have the time and mood after returning home to write poetry, paint, or even sing and dance."
He then proceeded to share a brief anecdote: a humanoid robot named Figure was standing before a table on which a bottle of water, a pillow, and an apple were placed in sequence. At that moment, its human training engineer walked over and said, "Figure, I'm hungry." The robot naturally picked up the apple and handed it to him.
"For humans, this action is very simple and direct, but for a robot, it is supported by an extremely complex set of artificial intelligence algorithms," Xu Ke explained. He expressed his hope that such a humanoid robot would not only be capable of performing simple tasks like picking up an apple but would also evolve into a warm-hearted human assistant—for instance, one that can understand instructions given in dialect by elderly family members, help tutor children with their schoolwork, or even play a game of chess or a round of video games.
"From the perspective of the overall development of the artificial intelligence industry, I believe that within the next 5 to 10 years, silicon-based lifeforms, represented by humanoid robots, will surpass carbon-based lifeforms, represented by humans, in both intelligence and capability," Xu Ke remarked. He then posed a critical question: faced with such a monumental societal transformation, how should ordinary people respond, and what should students learn to avoid becoming obsolete? To address this issue, he specifically brought a proposal concerning "AI + Education" to this session.
Furthermore, Xu Ke also suggested that as Sichuan Province's humanoid robotics sector is currently at a critical juncture of transitioning from laboratory research to industrial application, it is essential to establish a complete, domestically-produced supply chain for humanoid robots.
"A grand era of artificial intelligence is gradually unfolding before each of us. Within the momentum of this era, we should not compete with robots in terms of computing power or IQ," Xu Ke concluded. For humanity, the most important things are to maintain passion, enthusiasm, and curiosity; we must learn how to learn and how to ask questions, so that "we can progress and evolve together with artificial intelligence."
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