Why It's So Hard For Robots To Get A Grip

Berkeley robotics professor Ken Goldberg is turning an empty coffee mug around and around in his hands. "Oh, it's so complicated for a robot to be able to make sense of that kind of data," he says, eyeing his fingers grasping the cup with a look of wonder. Artificial intelligence is taking on complex cognitive tasks, such as assisting in legal and medical research, but a manual job like picking up laundry off the floor is still science fiction. Universities like Berkeley and Cornell and companies like Amazon and Toyota are working to close the gap with mechanical hands that approach human dexterity. Success would unleash a new robotics revolution with positive effects like reducing household drudgework, and fraught effects such as eliminating jobs in places like warehouses. Machines have been taking over manual labor for centuries; but they've been limited to specific, predictable tasks, as in factories.