Humanoid robots could have disruptive impact on society as technology advances: sci-fi novelist

Despite their vast potential for practical benefits, humanoid robots could have a disruptive impact on human society as technology advances, said Liu Cixin, a celebrated science fiction writer and Hugo Award-winning novelist, ahead of the world’s first humanoid robot half-marathon, set to take place in Beijing on Saturday.

Spanning more than 21 kilometers, the half-marathon will require participating bipedal robots to execute approximately 250,000 precise joint movements.

The event marks a significant milestone in the development of embodied AI and humanoid robotics.

In an interview with China Central Television (CCTV), Liu said he believed the race would offer the public a chance to better understand the capabilities of humanoid robots. He also noted that robots with practical functions -- such as caring for the elderly and patients or performing household chores -- would have significant market potential.

"I think the robot marathon is more of a showcase. The robots demonstrate their ability to move in a stable, balanced way while running, similar to those performing traditional Yangge dances at this year's Spring Festival Gala, which showed the public what robots are capable of today. Their physical form is also practical. For example, robots that can assist the elderly or care for patients have huge market potential. Household robots that can handle chores are also extremely useful. Of course, robots haven’t reached that level yet. But once they do, the market will be enormous, and the impact on daily life will be profound,” he said.

However, Liu said that once a revolutionary breakthrough allows for the creation of robots indistinguishable from humans, the societal impact could be profoundly disruptive -- to a degree that is difficult to imagine, even in science fiction.

"The ultimate goal of developing embodied robots may be to create machines that are indistinguishable from humans. Once that technology is realized, its impact on society could be truly disruptive. If we can no longer tell a robot from a human -- whether by intelligence or appearance -- the consequences would be hard to imagine, even in science fiction novels," he said.

Humanoid robots could have disruptive impact on society as technology advances: sci-fi novelist

The Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada, the country's parliament, will hold a vote on May 8 to ratify a natural resources agreement signed with the United States earlier this week.

The U.S. Treasury Department announced on Wednesday an agreement between the two countries to establish the U.S.-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund, which will give the U.S. preferential access to some of Ukraine's natural resources.

The fund will become operational within a month to a month and a half after the agreement is approved by the Ukrainian parliament, according to Ukraine's First Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko on Friday.

Speaking to Ukrainian media, the minister expressed her hope for the early launch of the fund, saying it should become a tool for the recovery and development of key sectors of the Ukrainian economy.

Also on Friday, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that the follow-up technical documents for the fund will not be intergovernmental, but will be signed at the institutional level.

He said that the follow-up agreements will be of an implementation nature between Ukraine's designated agency and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), and therefore will not require ratification by the parliament.

Although there are no formal security guarantees in the agreement, but each new military assistance provided by the U.S. to Ukraine is considered a capital contribution, which will encourage the U.S. administration to continue and not to stop supplying Ukraine with weapons and intelligence, said the Ukrainian Prime Minister, who also called on the legislature to ratify the agreement as soon as possible.

Ukrainian parliament to vote on natural resources deal with U.S. on May 8