ChatGPT changed how AI worked on computers and smartphones, but there could soon be a change in how AI works on robots.
The rapid evolution of AI is poised to take a significant leap from our screens into the physical world, potentially ushering in an era of intelligent, autonomous robotics. This is according to Clem Delangue, CEO of Hugging Face, the open-source AI community and platform. He envisions a future where the burgeoning field of on-device AI will be the catalyst for a revolutionary shift in robotics, akin to the transformative impact ChatGPT had on our interaction with AI.
“I suspect that you’ll have a higher percentage of compute on device for AI than you did for software. This is because of the need for speed, for privacy, and the constraints in terms of costs,” Delangue said on the TBPN podcast.
He points to the immense operational expenses of large language models as a key driver for this shift. “If you think of ChatGPT on a device, what’s amazing is that it’s totally free compared to the really high cost that ChatGPT has right now, not only for the customers but also for OpenAI to run,” Delangue explained. “It’s totally private in the sense that you can say anything and nobody’s going to see what you’re saying. And potentially, it’s going to be quite fast.”
This enthusiasm for on-device AI is not merely theoretical for Delangue and Hugging Face. He highlighted a recent, large-scale event that underscores the burgeoning interest and potential in this area. “We organized what has turned out to be the biggest hackathon for open robotics, that thousands of people participated in from over a hundred different locations, and built open-source robots,” he shared.
The confluence of several key factors is creating a fertile ground for this robotic revolution. “We are definitely seeing something happening there. The conjunction of cheap hardware, open source, plus new capabilities for AI could be the perfect combination for some sort of ‘ChatGPT moment’ for robotics,” Delangue proclaimed.
The implications of such a development are vast. A “ChatGPT moment” for robotics would signify a paradigm shift where robots become more accessible, adaptable, and capable of performing a wide array of tasks in real-world environments. This is fueled by the falling costs of hardware components and the collaborative, transparent nature of open-source software development. On-device AI would empower these robots to make decisions and react to their surroundings in real-time, without the latency of communicating with the cloud. This is particularly crucial for applications requiring instantaneous responses, such as autonomous navigation or delicate manipulation tasks. Furthermore, the privacy afforded by on-device processing could be a game-changer for personal and home robotics, allowing for more intimate and trusted interactions with our robotic counterparts. As the technology continues to mature, the prospect of intelligent, affordable, and private robots is moving from the realm of science fiction into tangible reality.