Discussing artificial intelligence always divides the room. Some love its efficiency, decision-making, and growth potential, while others fear its risks to jobs, privacy, security, and ethics.
Regardless of where you stand, robotics companies like Sanctuary AI are making remarkable progress.
Sanctuary was founded in 2018 by former BCBusiness 30 Under 30 winner Olivia Norton, D-Wave co-founder Geordie Rose, and others to develop the first general-purpose robots with human-like intelligence.
Ben Reed, its chief marketing officer, says most robots have a specific purpose. (Think AI that predicts text messages or recommends restaurants based on your past visits.)
Sanctuary, however, has been asking, “Is it possible to create a piece of hardware that can replicate, in the same form and function as a person, the way in which a person does things?” The answer is Yes!
Sanctuary’s humanoid general-purpose robot was deployed at Mark’s in Langley this week. Reed, who joined the company in 2021, says, “We’ve been able to demonstrate our technology has the physical capability to do hundreds and hundreds of different tasks that people typically can do.
Sanctuary official gives its statement about robots
Sanctuary replicated the commercial setting in its labs, where Reed says robots run around every day, to achieve the result it did.
Reed says this is the first time the 100-person company has deployed its robots externally. “We’ve actually replicated what we believe are the world’s best hands,” he says.
Because these robots work in human-made environments, organisations don’t need to change their operations to adopt them.
Sanctuary’s technology is filling “millions of unfilled job vacancies,” Reed says. He’s talking about “dull, dirty, or dangerous” jobs that companies can’t fill.
Last year, the Strategic Investment Fund (SIF) gave Sanctuary $30 million to address “labor-related challenges in the economy.”
The company has raised over $100 million since 2018 from an “ecosystem of companies” like Bell, Canadian Tire, Verizon Ventures, and others. Is it unsettling? Maybe.
Uncertainty is unpleasant, but change, innovation, and evolution require it. The industry, especially in B.C., is exciting right now.
To read our blog on “Inker Robotics raises $1.2 million for tech education,” click here.
