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At Auki, we believe the next big leap in human productivity will take place in the space where digital and physical worlds converge.
That leap is AI copilots for physical work.
As we outlined in our previous article, “The Six Layers of the Robotics Stack,” we believe AI copilots for physical work (sometimes also called hybrid robotics) are an important stepping stone in making the world accessible to AI and laying the groundwork for wider robotics adoption.
We see this technology as expanding the addressable market for AI by as much as 250%. Why? Because for the first time, AI can step out of the digital workspace and become a companion for physical jobs. 70% of the world’s economy is still tied to physical spaces, so making these physical spaces AI-accessible is imperative if we want the transformative possibilities of AI to impact all areas of human productivity.
When we talk about AI copilots, we’re not talking about robots. We’re talking about devices, like smart glasses, that people carry with them while working.
These copilots assist workers as they move through their day: suggesting tasks, guiding them to their next location, helping them collaborate with teammates and with AI itself.
At Auki, we frame this around society’s intercognitive ability: our collective capacity to think, decide, and coordinate together. AI copilots are designed to amplify that ability, not replace it.
Picture a store associate finishing up restocking a shelf. Instead of pausing to figure out what’s next, they simply ask their glasses: “What should I do next?”
The copilot instantly responds:
It’s a simple example, but a powerful one. The AI copilot lowers cognitive load in an already demanding job, letting staff focus on doing rather than managing.
Right now, humanoid robots are dominating headlines. But while the robots are coming, the timelines are long, and the economics are even tougher. Most workplaces simply won’t see robots at scale anytime soon.
That doesn’t mean AI can’t make a difference today. In fact, we believe it’s a mistake to let the engineering bottlenecks of robotics delay the real-world impact of AI.
Humans have already solved the hardest robotics challenges: mobility, perception, and manipulation. We are the perfect interface for AI in the physical world. What we need are copilots that amplify our strengths and minimize our weaknesses.
AI is already reshaping knowledge work. Many white collar workers now rely on digital copilots every day. But frontline workers, retail staff, warehouse operators, healthcare professionals, construction crews, have largely been left out.
At Auki, we see that as a missed opportunity. The majority of the world’s workforce is in physical jobs, and they deserve the same productivity gains that office workers now take for granted.
AI copilots for physical labor can deliver those gains.
AI copilots can:
Take the example with the associate stocking shelves above: what if instead of just asking what task is next, they could collaborate with their copilot on how to update the shelf layout to increase sales. The copilot can draw upon sales and spatial data from multiple locations and provide recommendations. Traditionally this type of work would usually involve decisions from managers or specialized departments but in a future with AI copilots, associates can be empowered to make better decisions based on data.
The outcomes are clear: higher productivity, more accessible workplaces, lower cognitive strain, and greater job satisfaction.
For retailers, warehouses, hospitals, and beyond, this is ROI that starts on day one.
The real promise of AI copilots goes beyond individual efficiency. By augmenting humans at scale, we enhance our intercognitive ability as a society.
Rather than people being replaced by machines, we believe the future is billions of people being augmented by AI, working smarter, collaborating better, and creating more value together.
Particularly in societies that are seeing their demographics shift, this improved efficiency is vital to combat the shrinking workforce.
As we argued in our previous post, hybrid robotics is a compliment rather than an alternative to general or humanoid robotics. By using humans as “mobile AI platforms” we are bypassing design challenges with the first 2 layers of the robotics stack. This allows AI to join us in the physical world sooner and more effectively than if we had to wait for every hardware and software challenge in robotics to be solved first. The truth is that this approach will speed up the adoption of robots.
Hybrid robotics accelerate the rollout of autonomy frameworks while keeping humans at the heart of the system. It’s a future-ready approach that brings many of the benefits of robotics to the workplace today, while laying the foundations for robot adoption when the technology is ready.
It’s time to extend AI’s reach into the physical world and truly augment human productivity.
At Auki, we’re committed to making that future a reality. With AI copilots for physical work, we can start unlocking this potential today, without waiting for humanoid robots to catch up.
Auki is building the Auki network, a decentralized machine perception network for the next 100 billion people, devices and AI on Earth and beyond. The Auki network is a posemesh, an external and collaborative sense of space that machines and AI can use to understand the physical world.
Our mission is to improve civilization’s intercognitive capacity; our ability to think, experience and solve problems together with each other and AI. The greatest way to extend human reach is to collaborate with others. We are building consciousness-expanding technology to reduce the friction of communication and bridge minds.
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The Auki network is a posemesh: a decentralized machine perception network and collaborative spatial computing protocol, designed to allow digital devices to securely and privately exchange spatial data and computing power to form a shared understanding of the physical world.
The Auki network is an open-source protocol that powers a decentralized, blockchain-based spatial computing network. Designed for a future where spatial computing is both collaborative and privacy-preserving, it limits any organization's surveillance capabilities and encourages sovereign ownership of private maps of personal and public spaces.
The decentralization also offers a competitive advantage, especially in shared spatial computing sessions, AR for example, where low latency is crucial.
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