Imagine a future where we share our world with walking, talking humanoid robots. It’s not hard; we’ve all seen it in science fiction. But could it be just around the corner? Well, a report recently published by Morgan Stanley suggests that it could be less than 10 years before millions of them are working alongside us, playing with us, protecting us and providing care. And by 2050, there could be one billion of them among us. So, is society ready for this massive change? What might this robotic world of the future look like? And are there ethical questions that have to be considered if we are going to give walking, talking machines intelligence and make them serve us? By 2035, there could be 13 million robot members of society, and the cost of owning one could be around $10,000 a year. Roughly making them comparable to a car in terms of how affluent you’ll need to be to afford one.

This accessible price point, analysts suggest, could mark a tipping point where they become commercially viable for a critical mass of businesses. This will lead to an explosion of demand, with the headcount of active robots potentially rising to a billion over the next 15 years. It’s a bold prediction for sure, but there are already examples of these robots being put to work. One model, known as Digit, created by Agility Robotics, is in use on factory floors in the U.S. It’s capable of carrying out many tasks, such as lifting and stacking objects that previously could only be done by humans. BMW also completed a pilot project where they introduced a humanoid robot called Figure 02 onto the floor of its assembly plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina. They are capable of opening doors, climbing stairs and using human tools. And there are also plans to deploy them in a Houston factory owned by Foxconn, where they will be used to build Nvidia servers. They can be used to provide care and companionship, too, as seen in several products and projects launched in South Korea, a country with a highly developed robotics industry.

Full commentary : In the near future we will be sharing our world with walking, talking humanoid robots.