You Still Don’t See Robots Everywhere
Automated Podcast 57:12
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Physical AI is moving fast.
But Matthew Johnson-Roberson says robotics is still missing something fundamental: a simple way to learn from physical experience at scale.
In this episode of Automated, Brian Heater speaks with Matthew Johnson-Roberson, founding dean of Vanderbilt’s College of Connected Computing, about why physical AI is not following the same path as language models.
They discuss why we still do not see robots everywhere, why last-mile delivery remains hard to scale, why healthcare still runs on outdated systems, and why the biggest open question in robotics may be the missing learning objective for the physical world.
Brian and Matthew also get into startups versus academia, the value of long-horizon research, and how AI agents have already changed the way Matthew writes code, makes decisions, and works.
If you want a grounded look at what is real in physical AI right now, and what is still missing, this is the conversation.
KEY MOMENTS
(00:00) Why robotics still feels early
(02:25) Why Nashville is becoming a stronger computing hub
(04:54) Why Matthew launched Patients.app
(07:36) How AI scribes are changing healthcare
(10:08) What self-driving taught him about safety-critical industries
(14:03) How self-driving pushed the auto industry forward
(17:06) What Amazon’s Kiva rollout reveals about real hardware iteration
(19:13) Why last-mile delivery still feels a couple of years away
(22:14) Why we still do not see robots everywhere
(23:58) The physical AI flywheel problem
(27:16) Why robotics still has no “next word” equivalent
(31:21) Why language models still surprise him
(34:28) Why startups are not built for decade-long unknowns
(37:34) Higher ed’s biggest R&D advantage
(40:55) “I’m a vibe coder”
(43:30) Why Vanderbilt built a new college around computing now
(46:38) Why taking risks still matters
(50:42) Letting students help build a new computing culture
(54:08) Why the ability to fail drives innovation
Connect with Matthew Johnson-Roberson
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattkjr
Learn more about Vanderbilt’s College of Connected Computing
https://computing.vanderbilt.edu/bio/matthew-johnson-roberson/
Learn more about Patients.app
https://patients.app/
We’d love to hear from you.
Have thoughts or guest suggestions?
Reach us at podcast@automate.org.
You can find the transcript and more episodes of Automated at automated.fm.
Unlock full access to Automated and explore everything automation.
Subscribe today and leave a review on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.
Subscribe to the Automated Newsletter:
https://www.automate.org/automation/automated-newsletter
You can also find us on:
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/automated-podcast-by-a3/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/automatedpod/
But Matthew Johnson-Roberson says robotics is still missing something fundamental: a simple way to learn from physical experience at scale.
In this episode of Automated, Brian Heater speaks with Matthew Johnson-Roberson, founding dean of Vanderbilt’s College of Connected Computing, about why physical AI is not following the same path as language models.
They discuss why we still do not see robots everywhere, why last-mile delivery remains hard to scale, why healthcare still runs on outdated systems, and why the biggest open question in robotics may be the missing learning objective for the physical world.
Brian and Matthew also get into startups versus academia, the value of long-horizon research, and how AI agents have already changed the way Matthew writes code, makes decisions, and works.
If you want a grounded look at what is real in physical AI right now, and what is still missing, this is the conversation.
KEY MOMENTS
(00:00) Why robotics still feels early
(02:25) Why Nashville is becoming a stronger computing hub
(04:54) Why Matthew launched Patients.app
(07:36) How AI scribes are changing healthcare
(10:08) What self-driving taught him about safety-critical industries
(14:03) How self-driving pushed the auto industry forward
(17:06) What Amazon’s Kiva rollout reveals about real hardware iteration
(19:13) Why last-mile delivery still feels a couple of years away
(22:14) Why we still do not see robots everywhere
(23:58) The physical AI flywheel problem
(27:16) Why robotics still has no “next word” equivalent
(31:21) Why language models still surprise him
(34:28) Why startups are not built for decade-long unknowns
(37:34) Higher ed’s biggest R&D advantage
(40:55) “I’m a vibe coder”
(43:30) Why Vanderbilt built a new college around computing now
(46:38) Why taking risks still matters
(50:42) Letting students help build a new computing culture
(54:08) Why the ability to fail drives innovation
Connect with Matthew Johnson-Roberson
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattkjr
Learn more about Vanderbilt’s College of Connected Computing
https://computing.vanderbilt.edu/bio/matthew-johnson-roberson/
Learn more about Patients.app
https://patients.app/
We’d love to hear from you.
Have thoughts or guest suggestions?
Reach us at podcast@automate.org.
You can find the transcript and more episodes of Automated at automated.fm.
Unlock full access to Automated and explore everything automation.
Subscribe today and leave a review on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.
Subscribe to the Automated Newsletter:
https://www.automate.org/automation/automated-newsletter
You can also find us on:
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/automated-podcast-by-a3/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/automatedpod/
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