In the beginning of the universe, all was darkness — until the first organisms developed sight, which ushered in an explosion of life, learning and progress. AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li says a similar moment is about to happen for computers and robots. She shows how machines are gaining "spatial intelligence" — the ability to process visual data, make predictions and act upon those predictions — and shares how this could enable AI to interact with humans in the real world.

With spatial intelligence, AI will understand the real world

The rise of spatial intelligence in AI marks a turning point as profound as the arrival of sight in early life forms. Just as vision sparked the Cambrian explosion of species, computers are now learning to see, understand, and act within the 3D world. With models trained on millions of images and new breakthroughs in robotics, AI is poised to move beyond recognizing objects to interacting with humans and environments. A recent pilot even showed a robotic arm cooking a meal using only brainwave commands.

Machines Gain Sight, Now They’re Learning to Move and Think

*The Worlds I See: Curiosity, Exploration, and Discovery at the Dawn of AI*

innovation

technology

machine learning

computers

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TED Stage Talk

Fei-Fei Li: With spatial intelligence, AI will understand the real world