Cheap human physical labor has long been a critical component of large civilizations. While the demand for such labor remains virtually limitless, societal norms and ethical considerations often limit its accessibility. In contrast, humanoid robots have the potential to dramatically scale the supply of human-like labor, offering a guilt-free alternative. Although the path to realizing this vision remains uncertain, advances in humanoid robotics are accelerating. This talk will provide an overview of our research at OSU on AI for general-purpose humanoid labor and explore the key open problems and challenges that lie ahead.
Alan Fern is a professor of computer science in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Oregon State University. He received his Ph.D. (2004) in Computer Engineering from Purdue University, and his B.S. (1997) in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maine. His research interests span a variety of topics in Artificial Intelligence and Robotics with a particular emphasis on building systems that can learn from experience. He directs the Dynamic Robotics and AI Laboratory (DRAIL), which studies AI for enabling humanoid robots to perform real-world work. He is also the OSU lead PI for the AgAID AI Institute led by Washington State University.