Humanoid robot captures the awkwardness of this Christmas classic

A robotics company has just captured the spirit of Christmas, and it's as awkward as you might expect.

Everyone has done some special techy marketing for the holidays.

Coca-Cola doubled down on its AI Christmas ad, and McDonald’s created an AI Christmas commercial that left social media users questioning everything.

But this Christmas ad for Humanoid’s (HMND) bipedal robot takes the cake (or Christmas pudding).

The ad is a nod to the classic Christmas movie, Love Actually, and features one of HMND’s bipedal robots wrapping a Christmas present.

The commercial is somewhat self-aware, as it highlights the awkwardness of humanoid robots and illustrates that robotics isn’t quite there yet.

In the ad, one of HMND’s robots poses as Rowan Atkinson’s character in Love Actually as he comedically wraps a present by putting a lot of random Christmas-related potpourri in a clear plastic bag.

The one-minute and thirty-second video received just over 2,100 views, and the comments don’t reflect the spirit of the season.

“Wow, this demo really made me not want this humanoid robot,” said one YouTube user.

“Is it supposed to be funny? I don’t understand,” said another YouTube user.

What is HMND?

Humanoid or HMND is a robotics company that claims its visionary path is “towards a future where robots amplify human potential.”

While the ad seems to amplify the idiocy of human potential, HMND claims to be “building the most reliable, safe, and helpful humanoid robots.”

Founded by Artem Sokolov, the company aims to eradicate the monotony of repetitive tasks by giving them to humanoid robots.

Sokolov observed his jeweler grandparents engaging in repetitive tasks and working in “unfair” conditions.

The robotics maker has observed over the years that similar jobs exist today and believes that “robots can free people from routine and repetitive tasks,” allowing them to “engage in more creative and meaningful work,” according to the HMND website.

The company claims that robots could fill a gap in the market, fulfilling jobs that are essential but people don’t want to take on.

“Across developed nations, millions of essential jobs remain unfilled, with the US alone experiencing a gap of two million workers and Europe facing a similar shortfall.”

Critical sectors such as warehousing, manufacturing, retail, and transportation, which demand physical labour, are massively understaffed, according to the robotics company.

“Today, converging advancements in robotics and artificial intelligence are creating a transformative moment. Rapidly improving hardware and AI capabilities are enabling the development of machines that can think, move, and interact with unprecedented human-like precision.”

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