Giving AI a body is now cheap

Are we ready for a world where everything is smart? Not just phones and apps, but buildings, robots, and delivery bots rolling down our streets? Windows ... doors ... maybe even towels. And don't forget your shoes. In this episode of TechFirst, I talk with Mat Gilbert, director of AI and data at Synapse, about physical AI: putting intelligence into machines, devices, and environments so they can sense, reason, act, and learn in the real world. We cover why physical AI is suddenly economically viable, how factories and logistics centers are already using millions of robots, the commercial race to build useful humanoids, why your home is the last frontier, and how to keep physical AI safe when mistakes have real-world consequences. In this episode: • Why hardware costs (lidar, batteries) are making “AI with a body” possible • How Amazon, FedEx, Ford, and others are already deploying physical AI at scale • The humanoid robot race: Boston Dynamics, Figure AI, Tesla, and more • Why home robots are so hard, and the “coffee test” for general humanoid intelligence • Physical AI in agtech, healthcare, and elder care • Safety, simulation, and why physical AI can’t rely only on probabilistic LLMs • Human–robot teaming and how to build trust in messy, real-world environments • What we can expect by 2026 and beyond in service robots and smart spaces 00:00 – Giving AI a body: why physical AI is becoming viable 01:00 – Where we are today: factories, logistics, and Amazon’s million robots 03:30 – The software layer: coordinating robots, routing, and warehouse intelligence 06:00 – Cloud vs edge AI: latency, cost, and why intelligence is moving to the edge 10:00 – Humanoid robots: bets from Boston Dynamics, Figure AI, and Tesla 14:00 – Home robots as the last frontier and the “coffee test” for generality 17:00 – Beyond factories: agtech, carbon-killing farm bots, and healthcare use cases 18:30 – Elder care, hospital robots, and amplifying human caregivers 20:00 – Foundation models for robotics, simulation, and digital twins 21:00 – Why physical AI safety is different from digital AI safety 22:30 – Layers of safety, shutdown zones, and cyber-physical security risks 24:30 – Human–robot teaming, trust, and communicating intent 26:00 – What’s coming by 2026: service robots, delivery bots, and smart spaces 28:00 – Delivery robots, drones, and physical AI in everyday environments 29:00 – Closing thoughts on living in a world full of physical AI