Colin Angle: iRobot

Lex Fridman introduces Colin Angle as CEO and co-founder of iRobot, a company that for 29 years has built robots that work in the real world at the scale of thousands and millions rather than dozens. He says iRobot has sold more than 25 million consumer robots, including the Roomba vacuum, the Bravo floor mopper and, soon, the Terra lawn mower. He contrasts this with the fact that most robotics companies fail.

Fridman says he spent a full day at iRobot, including a long tour, which is why the conversation is shorter than it would otherwise have been; the tour video is to be released separately.

Asked whether Roomba follows Asimov's three laws, Angle says the laws require such a profound understanding of the world, of the consequences of actions and of a robot's sense of self that they are not a relevant bar for decades to come. Roomba is designed to help rather than harm, to be inherently safe and to last, so it effectively follows them, but only because that aligns with being a good product, not through AI or intent.

On the broader role of robots, he argues that humanity's average age is rising so quickly that there are not enough young, spry people to care for the growing older population. Today robots make life a little easier, cleaner and healthier. In time, he says, they will be the difference between a gut-wrenching decline in people's ability to live independently and a brighter future with more control over their lives.