Embodied AI: Next Frontier in Robotics

Syllabus: GS3/Science & Technology

Context

• The recent integration of Google DeepMind’s Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 and Boston Dynamics’ Spot robot exemplifies the rise of Embodied Artificial Intelligence (Embodied AI).

About Embodied AI & Scientific Foundation

• Embodied AI is a kind of AI that claims intelligence is not separate from the physical body interacting with the environment.
• It learns from movement, perception, feedback and physical experience, not like conventional artificial intelligence systems that learn from digital data.
• The idea is more than just putting AI in a robot, and the form of the body, its sensors, and how it interacts with the world affect cognition.

Basic Principles

• Intelligence is distributed across the brain, the body and the environment.
• Learning takes place through constant interaction with real-world conditions.
• Some of the computation occurs in the physical structure of the body (morphological computation).
• The behaviour arises from sensor-motor feedback, rather than complex internal world models alone.
  • Co-evolution of robot bodies and neural controllers, as in biological evolution.

Indian Perspective

• India is moving towards Industry 4.0 and embedded artificial intelligence can help in boosting productivity, precision agriculture, disaster response and delivery of public services.

• Robots being used in manufacturing, healthcare, agriculture, logistics and smart infrastructure.
  • It needs high standards of safety, privacy and workforce reskilling.
• IndiaAI Mission, National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence, Digital India are continuously strengthening the AI ecosystem in India.

Way Ahead: Protecting Embodied AI

• Strengthen the Research Ecosystems: Fund Robotics, AI, Materials Science and Neuroscience.
  • Promoting interdisciplinary partnerships between academia, industry and research institutions.
• Build Indian Datasets: Develop large Indian datasets on agriculture, manufacturing, healthcare, logistics and disaster management to improve model robustness in local conditions.
• Campaign for Safe-by-Design Robotics: Hardware and software should be designed with safety as a consideration.
  • It needs to include human supervision, emergency shutdowns, constant surveillance and safe communication channels.
• Build Adaptive Regulatory Systems: India can draw on global developments on trustworthy AI and responsible innovation to develop standards to test, certify and regulate learning-enabled robots before their large-scale deployment.
• Increase Hardware Efficiency: By designing batteries, low-power AI chips, neuromorphic processors, light-weight materials, and strong sensors for longer operation.
• Encourage Public Private Partnerships: Accelerate deployment in strategic sectors through innovation, start-ups, research labs, industry and government programmes.

Source: TH