lifescience.com has named its seven most advanced humanoid robots in the world – and one that is on the job in South Hall made the list, and is, in fact, the only working robot that is included.

But, a news release says if you’re worried about humanoid robots taking your job in 2025, rest easy. The few commercially available models are slow, ponderous and best suited to menial jobs that humans hate — think lifting a 20-pound (9 kilograms) object onto a conveyor belt.

But things are set to change. By the end of this decade, many experts think humanoid robots will have evolved — if that’s the right word — into genuinely useful members of the workforce. They will likely be faster than humans, work longer hours and have higher reasoning abilities than the best AI chatbots. Per year, they will also cost less.

If you’re cynical about all this, you’re right to be. Up until this point, companies have made many claims they’ve struggled to meet. What’s more, only one humanoid robot in our seven-strong list is currently on active working duty. And it’s at a plant in Flowery Branch.

Digit is its name and as with many on the list, Agility Robotics’ Digit is built to carry out repetitive tasks in industrial settings such as warehouses. Very much unlike its rivals, though, this robot is already being put to work. Head to GXO Logistics’ facilities at Flowery Branch in Georgia, and you’ll find a tireless robot worker moving boxes weighing up to 35 pounds (16 kg) from autonomous mobile delivery units onto a conveyor belt.

However, Digit is not the most elegant of robots. The majority of its 5 foot, 9 inch frame is dominated by backward-facing legs that enable it to stand close to racks, with the only concession to a more friendly design being a pair of rectangular LED “eyes” (in reality, it uses Lidar and Intel RealSense depth cameras to detect its surroundings). Digit is available to order for a cool $36,000.

EARLIER STORY. POSTED DEC. 13, 2023: Robotic worker being tested at Flowery Branch plant

Here you can get a glimpse of Digit on the job and hear what some humans have to say about it:

About the Author

Ken Stanford is Online News Editor for GLORY 97.5, a position he has held since August 2022.

Ken was born in Moultrie, Georgia, and says he knew from the time he was 5 or 6 he wanted to be a “radio announcer.” That dream was realized when he was hired by Moultrie radio station WMTM in 1960 at the age of 15 as a weekend disc jockey. A 1963 graduate of Moultrie (now Colquitt County) High School, he has spent his whole career in Georgia working for stations in Atlanta, Marietta, and Gainesville – most recently as News Director for 40 years at WDUN in Gainesville. He is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force Reserves.

Ken retired in 2011 but came out of retirement last year to help GLORY, on a part-time basis, beef-up its online news presence.

He is the recipient of many Associated Press awards and is a former judge of state and national Associated Press broadcast news contests. In 2005, he was presented with the Georgia Associated Press Broadcasters Association’s President’s Award for Excellence in Journalism and in 2019 was inducted into the Georgia Radio Hall of Fame.

He lives in Gainesville with his wife of 52 years, the former Sandra McKnight of Clio, Alabama, and they have one child, a daughter, Lisa, who lives in Cumming with her family.