Max Braun: Teaching Robots to Help People in their Everyday Lives

Mixed Reality

Max Braun's journey with Google Glass and augmented reality (AR) highlights the challenges and potential of integrating digital and physical environments. He explains that while Google Glass was an early attempt at creating a seamless AR experience, the technology still has room for improvement. "What you really want is this just to be there," Max notes, emphasizing the need for AR to become more intuitive and less intrusive 1. At Google X, he worked on various moonshot projects, including visual search and self-driving cars, which aimed to solve real-world problems through breakthrough technology 2.

   

Robotics & Language

The integration of language models like GPT-3 with robotics is transforming task execution and planning. Max Braun discusses the Saycan project, which allows robots to interpret high-level natural language commands and execute complex tasks autonomously. "The robot ends up saying, okay, that means I'm going to drive over there, I'm going to pick up the can," he explains, showcasing the potential of language models to enable robots to perform over 100 tasks 3 4. This advancement in robotics highlights the ability of language models to decompose tasks into subtasks, enhancing the robot's capability to solve real-world problems 5.

   

Creative AI

Beyond his work at Everyday Robots, Max Braun explores creative uses of AI through personal projects. One notable project involves using GPT-3 to generate new philosophical phrases in the style of Ludwig Wittgenstein. "It's kind of like an art project," Max describes, highlighting the blend of technology and creativity in his work 6. These small projects allow him to experiment with AI's capabilities and limitations, offering insights into the evolving relationship between language models and human interpretation 7.