Ian Sample

So it seems from the outside, from a sort of lay view, that robotics hasn't quite had its sort of chat GPT moment yet.

And I wonder, you know, are there, say, three big challenges that robotics needs to crack in order for it to get there when we see this kind of step change that we've seen with the LLMs with the chatbots?

Nathan, a lot of the discussions around AI today will raise concerns around what it means for job losses.

And one of the reasons is that a lot of the tech firms, a lot of big tech, talks about how AI is going to drive a lot of people out of their jobs.

Don't you ever sort of get worried about the disruption that might come when robots have the kind of physical capabilities that humans have?

And so this will start hitting some of that labor, some of those jobs, because at the moment people say, well, look, if you want to survive, you know, the AI revolution, what you need to be is like a plumber or an electrician.

I was wondering if we will all end up getting jobs repairing robots, but then I thought, well, no, there'll probably be robots to do that, won't there?

Coming up...

China's robots are racing ahead.

Can humans keep up?

Amy, China is obviously leading the way in this sector.

Where does the government see all of this going?

Where will these robots fit into society?

And when you're out and about in China, do you encounter any in the real world?

It must be fascinating to be over there and to watch it all, Amy.

Thank you so much.

Thanks to Amy Hawkins and Professor Nathan Lepora.

You can keep up with all of Amy's reporting from China at theguardian.com.

This episode was sound designed by Joel Cox and the executive producer was Ellie Murie.

We'll be back on Tuesday.