Robotics and artificial intelligence stand at a pivotal juncture, poised to redefine our interaction with technology and deliver substantial benefits to both humanity and the business landscape. The integration of advanced AI, particularly generative AI, is overcoming long-standing hurdles in robotics, moving machines beyond controlled factory environments into the unpredictable realities of our homes and daily lives. This evolution marks the advent of "general-purpose robot brains," enabling robots to learn and adapt with unprecedented speed, mimicking the adaptability of the human brain.

For humanity, the primary benefit manifests in enhanced autonomy and quality of life. Consider the transformative impact on individuals with mobility limitations, such as Henry Evans, who, despite quadriplegia, gained a new level of independence through a robot assisting him with personal care and even engaging with his granddaughter. As robots become more adept at tasks such as cooking, cleaning, and personal assistance, they will free up human time and energy, allowing for greater focus on creative, strategic, and interpersonal pursuits. This will not only improve daily living but also enable more people to lead independent lives, previously unimaginable.

Businesses stand to gain immensely from this progression. The current shift from meticulously programmed, single-task robots to adaptable, AI-driven machines means companies can deploy robots in more complex and dynamic settings. This will lead to increased efficiency and productivity across sectors, from manufacturing and logistics to healthcare and domestic services.

The development of "large behaviour models," akin to large language models for text, promises to allow robots to learn hundreds, if not thousands, of new skills rapidly through imitation learning, dramatically reducing deployment times and costs. This scalability, coupled with more affordable hardware, will democratise access to advanced robotics, fostering innovation and creating new service industries built around intelligent automation. The collaboration among research institutions to create a "robot internet" for data sharing further accelerates this, ensuring that collective progress benefits the entire ecosystem, leading to smarter, more capable robots faster than individual efforts ever could.