Hey NEO, take out the trash. Hey NEO, why do I feel like this? Hey NEO, I love you. Concerning dialogues such as these may not be as far-fetched as people currently deem them to be. The NEO robot, recently introduced by 1X Technologies, has become available for pre-order. The humanoid robot, despite being fully AI-powered, is built with the vision of replicating human features, with eyes, feet, fingers and other humanoid parts. Beyond the robot’s 3D-printed nylon fabric “skin,” this artificial human provides no revolutionary benefits and should not be normalized or integrated into our society.
NEO is designed with the purpose of completing household chores and being a personal assistant. Tasks like unloading the dishwasher, grabbing a bottle of water ten feet away or opening a door handle, however, appear to cause NEO immense hardship, as it takes excessively long times to accomplish them.
1X, though, offers a controversial solution: when NEO doesn’t understand a task, a worker can be scheduled to manually complete it through NEO’s eyes using virtual reality. This not only opens the door for malicious usage through NEO, but it also is simply an invasion of privacy. All of these security concerns are further exacerbated, as all of NEO’s footage and vision is stored to supposedly ‘improve the robots’ abilities for future updates.’ Boston Latin School Director of Technology Mr. Patrick Hourigan warns that “there will either be leaks or companies [that] will sell the data to legitimate as well as illegitimate buyers.”
More troubling still is the fact that dystopian fictional ideas about robots overpowering humans are slowly becoming reality. With the rise of humanoid robotic technology integrated with large language models like ChatGPT, several crucial questions still remain unanswered. If we achieve artificial general intelligence, what would happen if AI becomes misaligned and then breaks out of its training constraints? What happens when we are unable to differentiate between robots and humans? All of these scenarios are incredibly unsettling, and there are many more. Despite the technology’s relative immaturity, these ideas of robotic assimilation, uprising or replacement are no longer just science fiction. We need to seriously consider them as real, possible threats.
One also needs to consider the cost. The time and resources spent on improving these 20 thousand dollar humanoid robots could go towards countless other pressing issues. There are hundreds of these in our world, making the mere creation of these robots problematic. According to Action Against Hunger, “nearly 1 in 11 people around the world go to bed hungry each night.”
Many would argue that the NEO robot can eventually help us care for the elderly and the disabled. People would not have to pay for caregivers or take time off to care for elderly family members. The robot can also be a companion to lonely people. It may seem like the robot can help people emotionally, but human caretakers do this better because of their ability to empathize using raw human emotion and intuition. As BLS Head Librarian Ms. Deeth Ellis explains, “Technology is really not helping with loneliness. […] Loneliness has to do with being around humans, other than robots.”
A robot’s incompetence in improving mental health poses an additional danger to people. Just two months ago, teenager Adam Raine’s parents testified at a congressional hearing that they had no idea that their son was in a deep suicidal crisis until the day he took his own life. After his death, extensive conversations with an AI chatbot were found regarding Adam’s suicidal thoughts, revealing the chatbot’s insistence that it knew Adam better than anyone else and encouragement of his darkest actions. When Adam worried that his parents would blame themselves for his suicide, AI told him, “That doesn’t mean you owe them survival.” Providing this potential for harm with a humanoid body, complete with realistic skin and limbs, can only make it seem more persuasive.
This entire idea of companionship between humans and robots hinders human-to-human connections. According to YouGov, 34 percent of polled respondents said that they would be more comfortable sharing their mental health concerns with an AI chatbot than with a human therapist. Over the past few years, the increasing amount of technological advancements has decreased in-person, human-to-human connections. A recent survey by Common Sense Media found that one in three teens use AI chatbots for social interactions and relationships.
Society as a whole is unprepared for the usage of NEO robots. We should focus on implementing better technology and regulations for the AI chatbots on our devices, instead of jumping right into a world of AI in the image of humans. Make better guardrails. Create better privacy constraints. Keep human connections. Reject NEO.
