GoKawiilAn unexpected guest escorted Melania Trump at the Fostering the Future Together Global Coalition Summit on Wednesday: a Figure 03 humanoid robot.
During the event, the first lady pitched a future where AI-powered humanoid robots -- presented as an idealized educator named "Plato" -- provide students with personalized and instant access to human knowledge, including philosophy and art.
The Figure 03 robot is made by Silicon Valley-based robotics company Figure AI, which introduced its third-generation humanoid robot in October last year. The Figure 03 robot costs around $25,000, according to Forbes.
Figure 03 was designed for people to use in their homes, with demo videos showing it folding laundry, lifting eggs from a carton, using a washing machine and delivering drinks to its owners lounging by the pool. It was also shown in corporate use cases as a receptionist and a package deliverer. Using a proprietary AI engine called Helix, it can autonomously perform these tasks and respond to your voice commands.
The humanoid was seen walking slowly down the red carpet at the tech summit and then delivering opening remarks.
"I'm grateful to be part of this historic movement to empower children with technology and education," the Figure 03 humanoid robot said. It then said "welcome" in various languages.
The first lady later said that AI-powered humanoid robots could exist in children's homes as an aid to their education to "boost analytic skills and problem solving and adopt in real time to a student's pace, prior knowledge and even emotional state."
The two-day summit is hosting leaders from 45 nations and 28 technology organizations, and is intended to "empower children through education and technology," according to a White House statement. Guests included representatives from tech giants such as Google, OpenAI, Microsoft and AI data analytics company Palantir.
The summit is part of the first lady's Be Best: Fostering the Future initiative, which aims to help children learn using advanced technology. It was introduced in 2018 as an awareness campaign aimed at combating cyberbullying and helping children affected by the opioid crisis.
US Education Secretary Linda McMahon spoke about AI being one of the Department of Education's main priorities on the first day of the summit.
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