Microsoft uses ChatGPT’s programming skills to fly drone in new experiment

    Microsoft is on a mission to revolutionize the way we interact with robots by using OpenAI’s ChatGPT. While ChatGPT has already showcased its ability to generate essays and perform basic programming tasks, Microsoft has discovered that it can also play a crucial role in human-to-robot interactions.

    Traditionally, most of the code used to control robots is hand-written, and Microsoft believes that this process is tedious, expensive, and inefficient. That's why the company is experimenting with using ChatGPT as an intermediary between humans and assistive robots.

    By providing high-level feedback in plain English, even non-technical users can program robots using ChatGPT. The AI chatbot generates code, mostly in Python, for controlling the robot accordingly. According to Microsoft, this process simplifies the programming process significantly, making it accessible to more people.

    Microsoft has even demonstrated this technique in action, sharing a video where ChatGPT wrote code to control a real drone from simple prompts inputted by the user. While the objects that the robot interacted with were pre-defined to ChatGPT along with their positional data, the results were remarkable. For instance, when the user said "I am still thirsty. Can you find something with sugar and a red logo?", ChatGPT understood that the user was referring to a can of coke in the room and programmed the bot to navigate towards it.

    The researchers also noted that ChatGPT asked clarification questions when the user's instructions were ambiguous, and wrote complex code structures for the drone such as a zig-zag pattern to visually inspect shelves.

    ChatGPT's ability to write code is attributed to its extensive training on vast amounts of data, which also included code. The chatbot has already demonstrated its ability to solve coding problems and offer detailed explanations for them while seeking clarifications where necessary.

    Microsoft researchers have also tested ChatGPT's ability to use a robotic arm to move blocks around and create the Microsoft logo. They have also tested whether ChatGPT can make real-time decisions on where the robot should go based on sensor feedback.

    In conclusion, Microsoft's use of ChatGPT in human-to-robot interactions represents a significant breakthrough in robotics programming. By simplifying the process and making it accessible to more people, ChatGPT can help usher in a new era of robotics that is more efficient, cost-effective, and user-friendly.