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The $20,000 Chore Robot That DOESN'T Do Any Work · The imuRgency Room

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  This is actually cheaper than buying a slave in the 1860s and
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  I can get into black. The future is here, the future
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  is bright, the future is slaves. Well I mean AI.
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  Hey guys what's up? I know y'all love emergency,
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  which is great because this is emergency too.
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  And you may be asking yourself right now, Rumi, what the ever
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  loving fuck are you talking about?
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  And to that, my dear friend, I point you to the latest and
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  greatest innovation in our AI slot timeline, the Neo Home
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  Robots. Now you may also be asking Rumi,
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  what is the Neo Home Robot? Well, the Neo Robot is an AI
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  powered humanoid robot made by a company called 1X whose whole
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  philosophy is that they're on a mission to build a truly
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  abundant society through general purpose robots capable of
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  performing any kind of work autonomously, which to me sounds
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  pretty altruistic. I cannot lie.
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  However, it's essentially being advertised as the next Gen.
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  version of AI in Home Help, which is as crazy as it sounds.
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  If you've seen The Jetsons, we may be closer to that reality
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  than we may think. Like, this is truly such an
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  interesting timeline. According to their website, Neo
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  takes on the boring and mundane tasks around the house so you
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  can focus on what matters to you.
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  And on paper, this sounds amazing.
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  Yes, I don't have to do chores anymore.
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  I could just live my life hassle free.
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  OK, except not exactly. There's always a caveat.
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  The thing about having something that seems too good to be true
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  is that oftentimes, at least at first, it is just that too good
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  to be true. Like, I know this is meant to be
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  for good and simply for utilitarian purposes, but like,
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  has anyone seen the movie Companion recently?
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  For one, that was a great movie. And two, I feel like that's very
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  enlightening for where we're progressing as a society because
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  that doesn't seem like dystopian satire.
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  That just seems like a prophecy for what's coming very, very
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  soon. But OK, OK, OK, enough talking
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  around. What exactly does this neon
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  robot do? Well it's meant to help automate
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  your chores, provide assistance with every tasks, and also
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  essentially work the same way as any other AI model with it being
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  also able to converse and ask you questions.
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  But according to its website, its specific AI functions that
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  launch include basic autonomous tasks like opening doors,
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  fetching items, turning lights on and off, tidying things up,
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  and having a scheduled chore list via app or voice.
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  I was doing some research and I saw that it apparently has like
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  a four hour charge life where like it goes for four hours but
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  then it also self charges and can be remotely piloted via
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  mobile app and initial reactions.
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  This, that was great. Like these are the kind of
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  things that we initially envisioned AI as being and the
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  things that AI would do. Don't take your jobs, do jobs
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  you don't want to do. And the best part of it all is
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  that it's so accessible. Like you yourself can get early
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  access ownership of one of these neo home robots with a
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  three-year warranty for just a measly $20,000 or or $499
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  monthly subscription. Right, right.
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  You really thought I was about to go up for this.
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  No, no oh also on top of that there is a $200 refundable
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  deposit to reserve your spot because yes that's right this
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  isn't out yet. It's all for pre-order and the
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  orders are supposed to ship in 2026.
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  So like, it really makes you wonder like, who is this for and
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  who could just drop 20 bands to get an AI slave, I mean, robot.
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  Because clearly for like the average everyday person who
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  likely would probably need a service like this more often
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  because they're working longer hours, they're not going to be
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  able to just drop $20,000 on this robot that you still have
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  to teach how to do the things it has to do.
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  Oh, wait, I even tell you that part yet.
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  Yeah, you have to teach you to do most of the things that,
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  like, it's advertises doing. The whole concept behind these
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  neo robots is that it's supposed to grow with you, which sounds
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  really nice and nurturing until you breakdown exactly what that
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  means for the product. And I think that launch piece is
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  one of the major factors here because, yeah, what it's
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  advertised as doing and all of the promotion versus what it
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  actually can do when you get it out the box are allegedly very,
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  very different, which leads to the next question of what does
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  it really do then? So based on what we said in one
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  of my favorite tech YouTube videos, as well as just what's
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  readily available on their site, not too, too much.
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  Like the whole thing is that they're meant to learn on the
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  job. So it has an idea for like very
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  simple things, but for more complicated tasks like doing
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  dishes or folding clothes, you know, the things that you really
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  wanted to do. You'll need to schedule time to
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  have a 1X expert log in through your NEO to not only teach it,
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  but also to guide it to do what it's meant to do.
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  Which I mean, I don't know about you, but like, why would you
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  want someone to be able to see and interact inside your house
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  like a complete stranger? Like in my opinion that leaves
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  the door open to tons of security and privacy threats
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  because again, I know the 1X experts are 1X employees but
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  like that's still a stranger to you and they have full access to
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  see whatever you got going on in your house.
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  And in my mind, I've seen too many horror movies and I'm just
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  like, if the robot can be controlled to do everyday house
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  tasks and is technically strong enough to pick up dishes, place
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  dishes, open cupboards, open doors, then pick up, fold and
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  hang clothes, it is definitely strong enough to get you.
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  Like like if one of those 1X experts has a bad day where the
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  robot malfunctions, I'm just thinking about I robot.
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  I am thinking about Neo home robot on the livings.
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  Like hello, I know that's not the intent at all or how those
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  are going to be used most likely, but the possibility of
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  like AI hit men being a thing insane.
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  And like again, not the fear monger that is pretty far off.
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  But like things like that are a real concern in a time of modern
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  day hackers. Like just imagine someone
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  hacking into your Neo and like if they aren't going to do hit
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  job on you, imagine them hacking into your Neo to use it to help
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  break into your house by just unlocking your doors so the
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  robber can rob you. And also back on topic, it's
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  just generally unclear how long these learning lessons will be
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  for your Neo and how many times you'll need to teach it how to
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  do what you want before it just gets it because it can't be more
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  than two times. Like if I'm paying 20K and I
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  have to teach this thing how to wash dishes the way that I want
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  to wash dishes more than twice I'm getting my refill and quick.
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  So with these seemingly limited features, it really makes you
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  wonder like why would they still be selling it at full price and
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  advertising it as if it's a finished product if it's
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  anything but that. 1X is positioning Neo as fully
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  autonomous long term, but in the near term foundational autonomy
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  is expected with early coverage over NEO and buyer's guides
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  framing autonomy as partial at launch with the company
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  promising improvements over time.
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  Like this whole hard half launch kind of reminds me of like when
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  Elon tried launching his version of like the little robot people,
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  but it turned out that they weren't autonomous at all and
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  they were just being remotely controlled by like real people
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  and just generally weren't as impressive as they were made out
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  to be. And it really just seems that
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  things like this, at least at first, are kind of RIP off until
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  it starts fully working as intended or at least as
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  advertised. And right now they have general
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  projections for like 2027 being when it's going to be more fully
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  optimized, but it's still very unclear how long it's going to
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  take to get there fully. For real.
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  And I don't want to make this seem all like doom and gloom and
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  like this is incredibly bad. I mean, like the AI factor of it
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  all is not great as we don't for many reasons.
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  But like this is still very revolutionary and exciting
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  technology. And if done right and execute it
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  right and it's made more accessible, it could be a great
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  invention or tool for people that need the extra help.
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  I'm thinking the elderly, those are disabilities, pregnant
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  people, like the value goes on. But like, these are all just
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  things that I wanted to point out that I thought were
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  relevant. You know what they say with
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  great power becomes great responsibility and one of those
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  responsibilities should be the expectation of privacy.
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  But with these things, there are some glaring privacy concerns
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  over letting something like that in your house.
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  There are some general privacy concerns that come with having
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  an at best an in home surveillance robot running
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  around every corner of your house.
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  And we already talked about what could be the worst, But with
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  things like expert mode that we've talked about an owner
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  teleoperation. That means that live audio and
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  video from inside the home can be transmitted off device
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  whenever it's engaged or even potentially when it's not
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  engaged. And that should raise some
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  eyebrows about data access, retention and operator bedding.
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  Like no shave. We need to make sure that the
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  people running this shit are actually bedded.
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  Neo turns on the stove and throws some paper on and walks
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  away. Can Neo do that?
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  Will Neo do that? Neo will not do that physically.
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  Can the robot do that? Yes, basically, can a lot of
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  products in your home do something dangerous if they
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  decided to? Yes, we will ensure that that is
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  not something that Neo is allowed to.
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  Do another interesting fact about the Neo is that it
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  features always on sensors which use multiple mics and cameras to
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  establish its general awareness, which is also a privacy thing
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  because it literally always has to be watching to know what it's
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  doing. So you're quite literally always
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  being watched, or at least your house is.
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  And in a world where many corporations are selling data
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  and info to things like the government with and without our
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  consent, we got to be careful about these things.
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  Like I feel like there's so many questions to be answered around
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  whether there's anywhere that those data logs actually go or
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  if you're able to section off rooms or just areas in your
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  space for the bot not to go rummaging its nose through
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  Warriors sensors through like they're just so many logistical
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  and also ethical concerns to actually deal with specifically
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  when it comes to AI servitude and specifically humanoid AI
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  servitude. And this is where I'm going to
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  lose some people. I already know.
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  I'm about to give my 2 oak opinion that's going to kill
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  whatever fun is left in this. So brace yourself because it is
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  that deep. So on the one hand, it's nice to
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  have something Jetsons like that does all the chores for you,
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  makes your life easier and more efficient.
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  But like we also can't not talk about how the optics of this all
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  are a little crazy. Like we are buying something
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  meant to look humanoid or like a human for service and manual
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  labor. Like we have a manual labor bot.
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  Like I hate to say it but essentially like an AI.
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  And I can already hear somebody else saying like how is it
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  different from any other AI thing that does as a service?
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  It's the fact that it is made to be humanoid.
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  Like there is no reason outside of it being comfortable,
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  familiar for it to have a human like form.
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  Because we have things like roombas, We have other robots
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  that do menial chores for us, but none of them are shaped in
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  the human form. Because when you make something
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  in the human form, you are intending on the person
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  interacting with it to start attributing human aspects to it,
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  treating it and thinking of it in a similar way that they would
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  a human as opposed to something like a pet or like a service
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  animal like a Roomba would. And to make matters even worse,
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  the different colorways that this thing is launching with are
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  a little suss. Like of course, I don't want to
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  assume intent here at all because it's very likely to be
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  an oversight or maybe just something that was not thought
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  about, you know, how companies have been around DEI recently.
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  But just look at the colorways of all these robots.
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  One of these things is not like the other in a very spooky way.
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  Like, I don't know, it's just giving the perfected version of
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  slavery. Because if we want to go back to
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  history class, the whole goal of slavery was to have a
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  benevolent, non expressive or a motive laborer to do the work
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  that you didn't want to do without compensation.
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  And that would make your life easier.
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  The only difference here is that the robots here aren't
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  necessarily making money, which is fucked up to even say.
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  And this isn't to say that robots deserve better
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  compensation because they're robots.
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  But this just seems like the perfected end product is
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  something that has been in the works for hundreds and hundreds
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  of years. And I only say this and go this
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  far because of the emphasis on the humanoid form of the robot,
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  as well as the difference in the colorways matching certain skin
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  tones. Like actually, why is there
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  literally a black one? They actually just could have
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  done neutrals that weren't similar to an actual human skin
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  tone. Like a muted pastel green would
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  have also been tea. I'm sorry, because your options
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  are like your typical robotic white or silver.
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  You're a little bit tan one and then chocolate brown.
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  Like again, I'm not assuming intent at all, but you do have
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  to acknowledge it is crazy to make a service bot that's whole
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  job is to do manual labor and again, make it black.
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  I'm sorry, I can't get over that.
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  Like it's just the fact that I know that there are going to be
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  a group of people that are going to opt for one color over the
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  others for rather obvious and unsavory reasons.
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  Like again, you have to think of the target demo here.
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  Who is realistically going to be paying $20,000 for an AI
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  assistant? It's likely going to be the Uber
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  wealthy or the tech Bros In both those communities.
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  More so, the tech community has a strong affinity for the meme.
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  And if the gag or the meme is to get you a modern day black
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  adjacent house worker, they're going to do that.
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  Like just imagine you're walking into your rich boyfriend's
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  parents house one day and they got the place covered in brown
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  neos taking care of the house. Like spooky hello isn't that
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  clocking to anybody? And I'll leave you with this
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  last point. That's 125,000% of stretch.
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  So take this with a micro grain of salt, OK?
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  But I did a little digging because the price seemed a
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  little steep and a little interesting.
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  And I did a little experiment to see how much these AI robots
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  cost in comparison to what a humans it would have costed.
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  In today's economy it's around $800.00.
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  But if you price that up to today's economy, it's around
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  20K.