Researcher Jim Fan discusses the next grand challenge in AI: creating a 'foundation agent' to operate in virtual and physical worlds. He envisions this technology impacting video games, metaverses, drones, and humanoid robots. The podcast explores the potential of a single model mastering skills across different realities, including AI capabilities in Minecraft and advancements in lifelong learning and multi-body control.
AI aims to develop 'foundation agents' for seamless virtual-physical operation.
AI shows promise with Voyager and Manamorph projects for skill expansion and multi-body control.
Deep dives
Advancements in AI Capabilities: Voyager's Skill Expansion in Minecraft
Artificial intelligence has made strides in versatility through projects like Voyager, which excels in scaling up the number of skills in gaming environments like Minecraft. With Minecraft's vast creative possibilities and wide player base, Voyager autonomously explores, mines resources, fights monsters, and learns new skills using a JavaScript API. By self-reflecting on its actions and continuously improving through a skill library, Voyager exemplifies the potential of AI for lifelong learning and skill expansion.
Manamorph: Controlling Diverse Robot Bodies for Multi-Body Capabilities
Manamorph represents a leap towards multi-body control in AI by innovating a model that can handle various robots with different configurations. By developing a unique vocabulary to describe robot body parts and using transformers to generate motor controls, Manamorph effectively controls thousands of robots for tasks like navigating terrains and avoiding obstacles. The goal is to expand this model further to enable control over a wide range of robots, including humanoids and drones, setting the stage for advanced multi-body capabilities in AI.
Researcher Jim Fan presents the next grand challenge in the quest for AI: the "foundation agent," which would seamlessly operate across both the virtual and physical worlds. He explains how this technology could fundamentally change our lives — permeating everything from video games and metaverses to drones and humanoid robots — and explores how a single model could master skills across these different realities.