Interns vs AI Robot: Who Is Faster?

KOMPA.com - The development of humanoid robots that resemble humans has worried some observers that robots could replace human labour, both mental and physical. To test this concern, Figure AI, a robotics startup, devised a unique challenge pitting a human intern against its humanoid robot, F.03. The intern, named Aime, edged ahead by sorting 192 more packages than the company’s flagship robot.

In total, Aime completed 12,924 packages, while the humanoid robot F.03 logged 12,732. Besides sorting packages, participants had to detect barcodes, pick up packages, and place them on a conveyor belt at predetermined positions. The competition lasted 10 hours and was broadcast live.

Although the robot led briefly during the contest, Figure AI CEO Brett Adcock said the robot overtook Aime when the intern took a break to go to the bathroom. As a worker in California, Aime was paid for meals and breaks in line with labour regulations. After returning to the arena, Aime closed the gap and moved back into the lead until the finish.

As reported by Beincrypto via KompasTekno, from the speed perspective the performance gap between the human and the humanoid robot was slim. Aime was recorded as averaging 2.79 seconds per package, while F.03 averaged 2.83 seconds per package, a difference of about 0.04 seconds.

Adcock added that the intern’s fingers were blistered and their left arm felt as if it might break due to the repetitive movements.