Ken Goldberg Coins "Variational Automation" to Describe Embodied AI's Niche
ZeeshanZiaML · x · 2026-11-13
UC Berkeley robotics professor Ken Goldberg coined "Variational Automation" to distinguish embodied AI from traditional fixed automation — robots handling variable, unstructured tasks. A talk slide shows a robot autonomously operating an espresso machine at "100x speed." Commenters say the explicit term will help entrepreneurs, investors, and customers communicate embodied AI's value.
More from Embodied
- Google details privacy protections for its intelligent eyewear — rseroter · 2026-11-13
- CoRL 2026 wraps up with birthday tribute to Dieter Fox turning 60 — DJiafei · 2026-11-13
- 4D Surgical launches MRI-compatible robotic surgery arms with $8M seed round — Scobleizer · 2026-11-13
- Hugging Face to release all RoboColosseum robot eval rollouts, including failures — micoolcho · 2026-11-13
- Watching an AI learn to walk, trained with fable 5.2 — imjustnewatai · 2026-11-13
- First day with iPhone Duo: wow at 5 minutes, hate at 1 hour, hooked by day's end — talkaboutdesign · 2026-11-13