Humans Are Controlling Autonomous Robots Behind The Scenes

While the promise of AI-powered autonomous robots has sparked major investment, most machines are still controlled by human operators.

The Big Picture: It’s no secret that the rise of AI and robotics could one day displace millions of jobs. But for now, many workers are being replaced first by lower-wage operators overseas — an echo of the old call-center dilemma.

Behind The Curtain: Right now, autonomous robots are a bit like the Wizard of Oz — a hype machine puppeteered by a man behind the curtain.

• Disney’s Star Wars droid, powered by Nvidia tech, wowed a conference crowd in March, but Disney admitted a puppeteer was controlling it behind the scenes. Nvidia’s role: helping it walk and balance.
• Waymo turns to remote drivers when its cars face complex obstacles. The same goes for the sidewalk — Coco Robotics and Avride, which make wheeled delivery bots for Uber and DoorDash, also rely on them to handle tricky curbs.
• Tesla copped up to the fact that its Optimus robots at a robotaxi event last year were human-controlled, using a VR headset and motion-capture suit. 
• The same goes for Ultra Robotics, which uses similar tech to control packing robots at a Brooklyn warehouse. The remote operators reside in Mexico.

The Future: While some robots do work autonomously, they’re typically limited to simple, repetitive tasks. This new breed, however, could one day operate without human intervention — thanks to… well, human intervention. Each time an operator steps in, the robot’s cameras and sensors capture the moment as training data. So the next time it encounters that obstacle, it can navigate it without hitting the panic button.

Prediction: Robotics companies are hiring workers skilled in VR tech and remote controllers — potentially making video gaming look like best-practice training for the job. Suddenly, beating Gran Turismo has never looked better on a résumé.