Accenture invests in Sanctuary AI to support AI-powered humanoid robotics applications

“AI-powered humanoid robots are essential to reinventing work and supporting human workers as labour shortage is becoming an issue in many countries and industries,” said Joe Lui, Accenture’s global advanced automation and robotics lead. “Sanctuary AI’s advanced AI platform trains robots to react to their environment and perform new tasks with precision in a very short time. We see huge potential for their robots in post and parcel, manufacturing, retail and logistics warehousing operations, where they could complement and collaborate with human workers and automate tasks that traditional robotics can’t.”

Sanctuary AI’s general-purpose robot PhoenixTM can reportedly perform a multitude of work tasks. For instance, Accenture shares in a press statement that at a Mark’s retail store in Langley, B.C., Canada, Phoenix has performed more than 100 tasks, including choosing and packing merchandise, and correctly cleaning, tagging, labelling and folding items. Phoenix is powered by the company’s AI control system, CarbonTM, which mimics subsystems found in the human brain, such as memory, sight, sound and touch, and translates natural language into action in the real world.

Geordie Rose, chief executive officer and co-founder of Sanctuary AI, said, “Robots with human-like intelligence will completely transform the workforce of the future. By combining Accenture’s expertise in disruptive technology with Sanctuary AI’s industry-leading robotics, we can help some of the biggest companies in the world manage this change and provide the best solutions for its clients.”

Accenture’s Technology Vision 2024 report found that 95 percent of executives surveyed agree that making technology more human will massively expand the opportunities of every industry. The report calls for taking a balanced, ‘human by design’ approach that ensures companies use technologies fairly and responsibly. Sanctuary AI is reportedly embedding Explainable AI in the Phoenix robot to feature reasoning, task and motion plans that can be defined and audited.