Robots, automation, AI, and the Pirate Parrot: Insights from our return to the epicenter of robotics

It's going to be a long time before robots replace sports mascots, but it might be better for one of our GeekWire colleagues when they do. That's one of the more lighthearted takeaways from our return trip to Pittsburgh, where GeekWire co-founder John Cook somehow managed to make enemies with yet another pro sports mascot, but we also came away with some more fundamental insights into the state of robots, automation and artificial intelligence: Supply chain challenges and labor shortages are changing the national conversation about automation, and accelerating adoption of robotics especially in manufacturing and distribution. Amazon's ambitions for rapid delivery are boosting robotics and automation across the e-commerce industry by prompting competitors to follow suit with their own solutions to increase logistics efficiencies. Robotics startups and autonomous driving companies are finding success in business and enterprise markets, as evidenced by Aurora Innovation's work with Paccar and FedEx on a self-driving truck. Many consumer robotics companies are still trying to do too much in making multi-purpose robots, rather than focusing on doing one thing well, as illustrated by the initial reception to Amazon's Astro home robot.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.