China's humanoid robots will not replace human workers, Beijing official says

By Eduardo Baptista

BEIJING (Reuters) -China's humanoid robots volition not regenerate quality workers and origin wide unemployment, according to a Chinese authoritative who oversees a tech hub successful Beijing, amid a accelerated enlargement of the assemblage and authorities backing for it.

Liang Liang, a lawman manager astatine the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, which hosts 1 of China's largest tech hubs, said successful an interrogation connected Friday with overseas media that helium does not judge that humanoid robots volition regenerate their quality creators, but volition boost productivity and run successful hazardous environments.

"We don't judge robots volition marque radical unemployed, but alternatively they'll boost ratio oregon instrumentality connected tasks humans are unwilling to bash - similar exploring the immense beingness oregon the water depths wherever radical can't go. Machines tin assistance america successful that exploration," Liang said.

"When it's nighttime and humans request rest, machines could support working, giving america better, cheaper, and much user-friendly products. So we spot this arsenic the absorption for our aboriginal development," helium added.

Liang explained that the world's archetypal robot half-marathon held past period successful Beijing was deliberately acceptable up successful a mode that would item his and different officials' hopes that these humanoids volition enactment and assistance humans, alternatively than regenerate them.

The half-marathon featured 2 tracks separated by a railing, with humans competing against each different connected 1 broadside portion connected the different broadside 20 teams each operated a robot, varying wildly successful size and ability.

"You see, successful the marathon, humans person their way wherever they propulsion their carnal limits, and the machines person their ain way wherever they jointly situation their limits - but they aren't trying to instrumentality implicit the quality people to sprint to the decorativeness line. The aboriginal volition beryllium similar this too," Liang said.

Liang spoke to reporters astatine the office of state-backed X-Humanoid, besides known arsenic the Beijing Humanoid Robotics Innovation Centre, whose robot Tiangong Ultra won the inaugural robot half-marathon.

Besides the sports-focused Ultra model, which tin scope a apical velocity of 12 kph (7.56 mph), the centre besides displayed different protypes that showed it was moving connected robots that tin implicit mundane tasks successful the look of obstructions and changing environments.

In 1 demonstration, an worker repeatedly moved the presumption of a portion of litter oregon snatched it from the robot's hand, which would past relocate the entity and transportation retired the task until it was completed, a self-corrective quality the centre says volition beryllium cardinal successful turning the humanoids into productive workers.

(Reporting by Eduardo Baptista; Editing by Sonali Paul)