[pixelesque]

What's interesting to me along these lines is I assume most of the companies funding the research are targeting the "creative" media in terms of image generation, music generation, avatars, speach, etc.

I can understand it's very interesting from a researcher's point-of-view (I'm a software dev who's worked adjacent to some ML researchers doing pipeline stuff to integrate models into software), but at the same time: Where are the robots to do menial work like clean toilets, kitchens, homes, etc?

I assume the funding isn't there? Or maybe it's much less exciting to research diffusion networks for image generation that working out algorithms for the best way to clean toilets :)

[einarfd]

There are companies out there working on those problems as well. How the funding climate for them are. I don't know. But the market for smart robots, should be gigantic. So there must be some. Keep in mind that what is easy, and hard for a human, which is the result of billions of years of evolution. Isn't necessary the same things that are hard or easy for our technologies.

[lentil_soup]

Or replacing CEOs, investors, bankers? I would have thought those would be easier to replace than creating robots to clean or replacing artists, or even developers. Maybe I am wrong?

[SirHumphrey]

All these jobs are more who you know not what you know. The social network of these people is often an integral part of the work, so they are in a sense much safer than programmers, accountants and artists.

[cherry_tree]

There was a recent talk about using vision language models to train robots to do household tasks: https://youtu.be/a8-QsBHoH94

I wonder how advanced world models like genie 3 would change the approach if it all.

[dingnuts]

robotics is difficult and since transformers are just next word predictors they can't actually help us design those robots :)

also the billionaires have help so they don't give a shit if the menial stuff is automated or not. throw in a little misogyny by and large too; I saw a LinkedIn Lunatic in the wild (some C-level) saying laundry is already automated because laundry machines exist

fucking.. tell me you don't ever do the laundry without telling me. That guy's poor wife.