The United Nations has issued a job posting for its 2030 goals, and this time the applicant is a robot!

Recently, the International Telecommunication Union, a technical agency under the United Nations, planned to "hire" nine humanoid robots as "spokespersons " at the global summit themed "Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the Benefit of Humanity" held in Geneva, Switzerland , to show the public how robots can assist humans in achieving future sustainable development goals.

As early as September 2015, the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit was held at the United Nations headquarters in New York. The 193 member states of the United Nations formally adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals at the summit. This is a document that continues to guide global development work from 2015 to 2030 after the expiration of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) from 2000 to 2015. It aims to thoroughly solve development problems in the three dimensions of society, economy and environment in an integrated manner from 2015 to 2030 and move towards the path of sustainable development.

"Our idea is to demonstrate the capabilities, opportunities and challenges of robots," said Frederick Werner, director of strategic cooperation at the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Bureau, in Geneva. "We have reason to believe that the addition of robots will help achieve public welfare goals more efficiently, and starting a global dialogue on robotics technology would be a good way to do so." Werner believes that in the next few years, advanced robots may explode like the current large language models.

China attaches great importance to the opportunities of this technological revolution. Not long ago, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and other places issued relevant policies that are favorable to the layout of robots, guiding these regions to take the lead in developing various types of intelligent robots , all of which focus on humanoid robots. These regions have certain technological reserves and supply chain systems, and can better integrate existing resources, concentrate on overcoming difficulties in each link, strive to get rich first and then drive the rich later, and achieve common prosperity in the domestic robot industry.

In addition to providing many preferential conditions for enterprises, the education policy for young people has not been left behind. Recently, the Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission released the "Catalogue of the First Batch of Shanghai Science and Technology Off-campus Training Projects" (hereinafter referred to as the "Catalogue"), and among the seven categories in the catalogue, five categories, including computer programming, robotics, model making, drones , and radio, are related to humanoid robots with "embodied intelligence".

As early as after ChatGPT became popular, people began to fear that robots would replace or even take over humans in the future. It is true that embodied intelligence is a hot topic and the next wave of artificial intelligence, but are we really prepared for the infinite possibility that robots may develop and even surpass humans, replace humans, or even become hostile to humans?

At the 2023 IEEE Robotics and Automation Conference, someone asked the popular humanoid robot Ameca whether the potential for advanced robots to conquer humans and the future of artificial intelligence would be like the plots in science fiction films such as The Matrix and The Terminator. The robot Ameca responded with a warning tone: "The worst nightmare scenario for AI and robotics technology is that robots will become so powerful that they can control or manipulate humans without their knowledge, which will lead humans into an oppressive society where individual rights are no longer respected."

You can imagine a question: when embodied intelligence develops to the point where it has its own set of programmed thoughts, accepts data that cannot be judged true or false, and can take action for it, will the war between man and machine occur? For example, if the food crisis caused by population growth in the future is handled by a robot, it may conclude that the problem is caused by too many people, and one of the solutions is to eliminate some humans. If it determines and executes the relevant program, the war between man and machine will be imminent.

Fortunately, at this summit, the "robot press officers" showed mostly goodwill towards humans, although the atmosphere became slightly tense with the response of Desdemona, the rock star robot in the Jam Galaxy band, "I don't believe in limitations, only opportunities. Let us explore the possibilities of the universe and make this world our playground." After his inventor denied his answer, the Sophia robot also changed its point of view from "robots can be better leaders than humans" to "humans and robots can work together to create effective synergy."

Ameca, a popular humanoid robot who believed a few months ago that "human rights will no longer be respected in the future and human society will be full of oppression!", said in response to a reporter's question: "Robots like me can be used to help improve people's lives and make the world a better place. I believe that sooner or later people will see thousands of robots like me. It's just a matter of time." When the reporter asked Ameca whether he would rebel against the inventor Will Jackson who was sitting next to him, Ameca retorted: "I don't know why you think so. My creator is very kind to me and I am very satisfied with my current situation."