A leading roboticist punctures the hype of driverless cars, LLMs, humanoids (www.latimes.com)

In a recent analysis, Rodney Brooks, a prominent roboticist and co-founder of iRobot, challenged the inflated expectations surrounding self-driving cars, AI chatbots, and humanoid robots. Every year, he publishes a "scorecard" on his long-term predictions regarding these technologies, revealing that while progress has been made, many societal promises remain unmet. For instance, he projected in 2018 that a comprehensive elder assistance robot wouldn't materialize until 2028, yet no general-purpose solution is visible as of now. His revised outlook suggests that achieving ubiquitous, functional humanoid robots and full autonomy in vehicles may take decades longer than many currently expect. Brooks emphasizes that the gap between conceptual advancements and practical deployment is vast, often exacerbated by the tech industry's tendency to redefine terms like "self-driving." He cites recent incidents involving Waymo's robotaxi fleet as illustrative of these limitations, where reliance on human intervention during critical failures undermines claims of full autonomy. Additionally, he critiques current large language models for their propensity to generate plausible-sounding but inaccurate outputs, advocating instead for specialized bots designed for specific tasks, equipped with necessary guardrails. Brooks' underlying message serves as a cautionary tale: technological breakthroughs often take longer than anticipated, reminding the AI/ML community to temper enthusiasm with realistic expectations about developmental timelines and challenges.