It used to be that you needed years and lots of specialist skills to build humanoid robots. Not anymore. Now base models are open-source. Want more complex appendages? Companies like Shadow Robot are making and selling those. Open-source AI is almost as good as closed-source industry leaders. Unitree’s new advanced humanoid robot starts at only $16,000. You can bet Chinese manufacturing will keep lowering that cost.
So it’s reasonable to think complex, advanced, and powerful humanoid robots may cost < $5,000 by 2030 or so. Sci-fi has imagined lots of robot futures, but I don’t recall it often anticipating that aspect. Robots will be cheap to buy and own. Economists, and by extension our governments, have anticipated this even less.
I wouldn’t call £3000 cheap. But yes, the general idea of labour not needing to be something humans need to do is something to look forward to, not fear because of short term concerns of unemployment.
We need only fear if we do not reward courage and integrity and foster their development in our children.
So… I’m somewhat fearful.