Yes, Atlas is running, but please don’t panic
A new video shows the world’s most advanced humanoid robot running merrily through fields and leaping over logs. It’s a remarkable feat of engineering, but don’t be too alarmed: there are still some significant limitations.
Run: Boston Dynamics has received plenty of attention for videos of eerily lifelike legged robots in action. The latest clip shows the company’s two-legged machine, Atlas, running and jumping with impressive speed. This is incredibly difficult for a two-legged machine to do on uneven ground. It requires a very sensitive sense of balance and lightning reflexes.
One step closer: The feat is progress toward enabling robots to go anywhere a person can. Boston Dynamics was founded by Marc Raibert, a roboticist who has done pioneering work on having robots balance themselves dynamically. Raibert previously ran a lab at CMU, and then one at MIT.
Chill: People often get a bit creeped out by the Boston Dynamics robots, but there are several reasons why you shouldn’t be the least bit worried about Atlas. For one thing, it’s operated by a person wielding a large remote control. For another, the robot is incredibly expensive and power hungry. And finally, it is still quite prone to falling over.
Deep Dive
Artificial intelligence
The inside story of how ChatGPT was built from the people who made it
Exclusive conversations that take us behind the scenes of a cultural phenomenon.
AI is dreaming up drugs that no one has ever seen. Now we’ve got to see if they work.
AI automation throughout the drug development pipeline is opening up the possibility of faster, cheaper pharmaceuticals.
GPT-4 is bigger and better than ChatGPT—but OpenAI won’t say why
We got a first look at the much-anticipated big new language model from OpenAI. But this time how it works is even more deeply under wraps.
The original startup behind Stable Diffusion has launched a generative AI for video
Runway’s new model, called Gen-1, can change the visual style of existing videos and movies.
Stay connected
Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review
Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.