World humanoid games are taking place these days.
A robot runs faster than Usain Bolt in the 100 m, another jumps 2 meters into the air etc….
Well, this is an apples-to-oranges comparison to compare robots to humans in individual events.
Because you can optimize a machine for a specific task and get “better” results than human record.
The real comparison, however, would be when you have a robot that has the same body proportions and mass distribution over its body similar to ours, competing against us. THAT would be apples to apples.
For example, an android that is able to compete in decathlon, which requires different abilities in each sport. A robot that’s built for one specific task cannot do that.
Because our bodies are general purpose constructions. They are not originally made for just 100 m sprint or boxing or swimming or high jump. You can’t just compare a human with a machine built for just swimming or weightlifting or high jump. This is similar to comparing the human brain to a chess robot and saying a chess robot is more intelligent. Or comparing human strength to a bulldozer. It doesn’t work that way. Of course, human athletes specialize too, but they are still using the same general-purpose human body, rather than a machine specifically designed and optimized for one event.
Bottom Line
We are not saying robot achievements are meaningless. Without a doubt, they are outstanding achievements, however, to compare humans and robots in sports, here is Robot Magazine’s proposal:
To be eligible for comparison against humans, a robot must achieve meaningfully successful results in at least several sports that require very different abilities, such as the decathlon.
Organizers of humanoid competitions (or an independent standards body) should define the exact multi-event criteria.
Posted By: A.Tuter
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