They are going mainstream the same way fully autonomous cars are: in the wildest dreams of tech oligarchs on a deregulation crusade. Humanoid robots are actually a tougher problem to crack, and this coming up now is rather the sign of AI investors desperate to diversify out of language models, so when THAT bubble eventually pops, I'm not sure how much will remain of humanoid bots either.

I am not sure these will become mainstream soon. I think they will be too expensive and too much of a toy in the beginning. When it comes to daily tasks other robots are better equipped to do these tasks, since they have a higher level of specialization.

For example roombas. While I can see a humanoid robot vacuuming, a roomba is better equipped for the job, I assume uses less power than a humanoid and vacuum cleaner running at the same time.

When talking about humanoid robots as social contacts, I'm sure there will be wealthy and lonely people buying them for that purpose.

Then there's replacing workers in dangerous jobs like construction, metal production etc. I think it is more sensible to develop and use specialized robots in these fields.

Seems unlikely.

...are going mainstream...

Is this an advertisement? 🦋

While I believe that we'll see autonomous humanoid robots eventually, we're pretty far away from any practical version of that. What were much more likely to see in the next few years is fauxautomation, the 'mechanical turk' con, where the reality is the robot is controlled by a human.

And not only is a bullshity part of hype, it's also pretty worrying. Not just as a privacy and safety nightmare (do I really want a 'ai' robot servant who's really being controlled by some dude in a data centre in India?), but because I can see a future where people are fine with that. Just like we've outsourced shitty and exploitative factories overseas, while still enjoying the cheap production costs, I can see lots of assholes being fine with having a robot servant, even if it's being controlled by some exploited kid in a robo sweatshop. It's just outsourced slavery.

In 2026 the Neo robot, the figure 3 and the Tesla bot are going mainstream in countries like America and I’m pretty sure other western countries.

I am skeptical. The Neo robot is basically a Mechanical Turk with extra steps.

I can't prove it but the Figure 3 gives me even more vaporware flags.

As for the Tesla bot, it's the least scammy of the bunch, but this is on the "we promise to put robots in your house in 2026" scale. It wouldn't be the first time Tesla overset expectations.

None of these companies are straightforwardly showing extended, unedited footage of these robots operating in full AI mode in an uncontrolled realworld environment for a reason.

Humanoid household robots are the new (edit: I suppose not new, but resurging) fascination, but they are dumb. If someone wants to automate away chores it's going to be by increasing smarthome capabilities and integration, and/or by having improved standalone robots and automation, like roombas, if they aren't going all in on integrated smarthome tech. Success in automation will be with specific use robots and pieces of automation, ideally working together, not a Cylon lumbering around.

No. They are not going mainstream.

Right now, it's all tech-industry hype, which we should be very skeptical of. None of those robots are proven to work well and that's what needs to happen first before there's any chance of them becoming mainstream. I could see humanoid robots being used in some capacity, at some point. But with those first generation products, I fully expect the tech industry to overpromise and underdeliver.

Narrator: They won't go any more mainstream than AI has.

I really doubt they will be useful in any way.

I wonder how is their battery life and how much they weight.
And I bet any of them works without an internet connection.

They think it's far fetch for these AI to be more than language models. I'll let you know right now. That is not the case

Please expand on this? LLMs are advanced probability engines. they’re not “ai”.

I can see these things being used in places like hotel check-in... or fast food order taking.

Any time you could use a kiosk but prefer to speak to a "person", they'll just replace a real person with a robot.

I think, people are assuming OP's assertion that they are "going mainstream" means "you will have one in your home." I see it more like "you will interact with one on a semi-regular basis depending on your line of work" and "humanity will start to accept this as the new normal."

I don't expect working families to ever have a humanoid robot doing their chores for them.

If they can do my laundry and fix my roof, I'm all for it.