Robots should not look like people
We already live among robots; machines that autonomously relieve us of tedious chores have existed for more than a century. We lived among robots when James Watt sold steam engines that milled wheat tirelessly all day. Our cars have lane-keep assist, adaptive cruise control, and automatic headlights. At home, we have washing machines, rice cookers, thermostats, and automatic floor sweepers. In factories, robots make and assemble everything from ramen noodles to automobiles. Robots are already everywhere.
But none of these robots look like people; and that’s for a good reason: their shape is dictated by their purpose. They are optimized to do one or two jobs very well and economically, and as every generation of robots get better at what they do, their shapes become more optimized for their intended jobs.
So why do a certain class of folks continue to lust after a future of robots that look like humans?
While humans are fantastic generalists, we are not very good at any repetitive chore. Human-shaped robots will not only inherit our flexibility, but also our limitations. Our lanky, limbed bodies evolved to satisfy evolutionary pressures that robots aren’t subject to, so why bother making robots that are constrained to the human form, teetering on two tiny feet, doomed to never be very good at any task in particular?