The Rise of Humanoids: Smart Robots + Gen AI

Sidhartha Sharma- Future of AI,Tech,Digital & Data

6 min readMar 18, 2024

The future is stranger than you can think.

We realize how slow human progress has been every time we look at the past.

For example talking about woman rights- Here’s a brief overview of key moments and timelines that altered history:

1792 — Publication of “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman” by Mary Wollstonecraft: This seminal work argued for women’s education and the rationality of women, laying the groundwork for the feminist movement.
1848 — Seneca Falls Convention: Held in New York, this was the first women’s rights convention in the United States, which issued a Declaration of Sentiments calling for equal social and legal rights for women, including the right to vote.
1893 — Women’s Suffrage in New Zealand: New Zealand became the first country to grant women the right to vote, setting a precedent for women’s suffrage movements worldwide.
1920 — Ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: After decades of activism and advocacy, women in the United States won the right to vote, marking a significant milestone in the women’s suffrage movement.
1940s — Women’s Role in World War II: During World War II, women entered the workforce in unprecedented numbers, taking on roles traditionally held by men, including industrial jobs, as part of the war effort. This period, symbolized by “Rosie the Riveter,” marked a significant change in societal attitudes towards women’s work outside the home and laid the groundwork for post-war discussions on women’s labor rights.
1948 — Universal Declaration of Human Rights: This landmark document, adopted by the United Nations, affirmed gender equality as a fundamental human right, influencing global attitudes and policies towards women’s rights.
1960s-1980s — Second-Wave Feminism: This period saw a resurgence of feminist activity, focusing on issues such as workplace equality, reproductive rights, and the legal recognition of women’s rights to bodily autonomy and equal opportunity.
1963 — The Equal Pay Act in the United States: This landmark legislation aimed to abolish wage disparity based on sex by prohibiting employers from paying men and women differently for the same work. This act was among the first federal laws addressing gender discrimination in the workplace and paved the way for further legislation and policy changes worldwide to promote gender equality in employment and compensation.
1979 — Adoption of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW): Often described as an international bill of rights for women, CEDAW has been ratified by 189 states, committing them to work towards ending discrimination against women in all forms.
1990s — Recognition of Women’s Rights in International Law: The decade saw significant advances, including the declaration that women’s rights are human rights at the 1993 Vienna World Conference on Human Rights and the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in 1995.
The 2000s-2010s — Fourth-Wave Feminism: Characterized by a focus on intersectionality and the use of social media to address issues such as sexual harassment, gender violence, and body shaming, alongside continued advocacy for equality and empowerment.
2020s — Global Reckoning and Ongoing Struggles: Recent years have seen a global reckoning with issues of gender inequality and systemic discrimination, with movements like #MeToo and #TimesUp gaining international attention, highlighting both progress and the persistent challenges facing the pursuit of gender equality.

Humanoids: Rise of the AI-powered Robots

For the first time in human history, we are now at a point where another species will rise that will be more powerful than men , women or LGBTQ+ identifiable

humans. Since they will be more powerful than men and women, it’s obvious that they will be smarter than any other animal species known to the world.

The timeline of robotics traces the development from ancient myths to modern advancements. Here’s a concise overview of key milestones:

Ancient Times to Middle Ages: Early automata and mechanical devices, such as the legendary Greek engineer Hero of Alexandria’s automatic doors and mechanical theater (1st century AD), and Al-Jazari’s robotic devices in the Islamic Golden Age (12th century).
1738: Jacques de Vaucanson creates The Flute Player, one of the first recorded automata capable of playing a wind instrument, showcasing early interests in simulating human actions mechanically.
1801: Joseph Marie Jacquard invents the Jacquard loom, which uses punch cards to control a sequence of operations — an early precursor to computer programming concepts.
1921: The term “robot” is coined by Czech playwright Karel Čapek in his play “R.U.R.” (Rossum’s Universal Robots), which imagines a future with artificial people called robots.
1948–49: William Grey Walter creates Elmer and Elsie, two of the first autonomous robots, which were capable of sensing their environment and moving accordingly.
1956: George Devol and Joseph Engelberger invent the first programmable robot, leading to the founding of the first robotics company, Unimation. Engelberger is later known as the “father of robotics.”
1961: The first industrial robot, Unimate, goes to work at a General Motors assembly line in New Jersey, performing tasks that are dangerous for humans.
1973: The WABOT-1, developed at Waseda University in Japan, becomes one of the earliest humanoid robots, capable of walking, grasping, and communicating with humans.
1980s-1990s: Advancements in computing and artificial intelligence lead to more sophisticated robots with improved sensory and processing capabilities. The development of the Internet and increases in computational power facilitate significant advancements in robotics research and application.
2000s: The advent of robots designed for social interaction, such as Sony’s AIBO, a robotic pet, and Honda’s ASIMO, an advanced humanoid robot capable of walking and navigating complex environments.
2010s: The rise of drones for both commercial and recreational use, advancements in autonomous vehicles, and the introduction of robotic assistants in various sectors, including healthcare, logistics, and customer service.
2020s: Ongoing developments in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and robotics are leading to increasingly sophisticated systems capable of performing complex tasks, with applications ranging from autonomous driving and surgical robots to robotic process automation (RPA) and beyond.

This timeline highlights the continuous evolution of robotics, with future developments likely to further blur the lines between human capabilities and machine functionality.