E12: The Robot Revolution with Keerthana Gopalakrishnan of Google Robotics

Nathan Labenz talks to Google Robotics researcher Keerthana Gopalakrishnan (@keerthanpg) about how they train robots at Google, and how robots contextualize their environment and complete tasks through supervised learning. They go deep on integrating language models for commands and how to approach translating them, as well as the importance of robotics safety. Keerthana also shares how we’re using robots to better understand ourselves, personal experiences using AI, and her hopes and fears about AI's impact on society. This episode provides valuable insights into the current state and potential future of robotics and AI, with Keerthana's expertise offering unique perspectives on these fascinating topics. We're hiring across the board at Turpentine and for Erik's personal team on other projects he's incubating. He's hiring a Chief of Staff, EA, Head of Special Projects, Investment Associate, and more. For a list of JDs, check out: eriktorenberg.com. RECOMMENDED PODCAST: The HR industry is at a crossroads. What will it take to construct the next generation of incredible businesses – and where can people leaders have the most business impact? Hosts Nolan Church and Kelli Dragovich have been through it all, the highs and the lows – IPOs, layoffs, executive turnover, board meetings, culture changes, and more. With a lineup of industry vets and experts, Nolan and Kelli break down the nitty-gritty details, trade offs, and dynamics of constructing high performing companies. Through unfiltered conversations that can only happen between seasoned practitioners, Kelli and Nolan dive deep into the kind of leadership-level strategy that often happens behind closed doors. Check out the first episode with the architect of Netflix’s culture deck Patty McCord. https://link.chtbl.com/hrheretics (0:00) Preview to episode (0:51) Sponsor (1:09) Intro (5:20) GPT analogy for robotics (6:51) Domestic robots (10:53) Description of Google robotics (15:17) Controlling robots and supervised learning (18:50) How robots complete tasks (26:17) Using data to train robots (30:45) Data operability  (36:02) Integrating language models for commands (38:58) How to approach translating commands (42:49) How robots contextualize their environment (47:02) Approach to robotics safety (51:02) Tasks that robots can’t/shouldn’t do (54:08) The hard bounds of robotics (59:17) Frequency of inference (1:03:50) Form factor in robotics (1:08:38) Using robots to better understand ourselves (1:12:23) Having robot friends and spouses (1:17:44) Inference and latency (1:19:17) The Google Robotics team (1:21:07) AI tools Keerthana uses in her personal life SPONSORS: Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you sell at every stage of your business. Shopify powers 10% of ALL eCommerce in the US. And Shopify's the global force behind Allbirds, Rothy's, and Brooklinen, and 1,000,000s of other entrepreneurs across 175 countries.From their all-in-one e-commerce platform, to their in-person POS system – wherever and whatever you're selling, Shopify's got you covered. With free Shopify Magic, sell more with less effort by whipping up captivating content that converts – from blog posts to product descriptions using AI. Sign up for $1/month trial period: https://shopify.com/cognitive *Thank you Omneky* for sponsoring The Cognitive Revolution. Omneky is an omnichannel creative generation platform that lets you launch hundreds of thousands of ad iterations that actually work, customized across all platforms, with a click of a button. Omneky combines generative AI and real-time advertising data. Mention "Cog Rev" for 10% off. Twitter: @CogRev_Podcast @keerthanpg (Keerthana) @labenz (Nathan) Join 1000's of subscribers of our Substack: https://cognitiverevolution.substack Websites: cognitivervolution.ai omneky.com https://research.google/research-areas/robotics/ https://research.google/teams/brain/