Tomato Picking Robot Made Possible Using ChatGPT

Researchers at TU Delft have developed a tomato-picking robot with the help of an AI language model called ChatGPT. The development team asked ChatGPT about what the greatest challenges for humanity would be in the future, which led them to focus on issues with the food supply. The team picked tomatoes as they were taught by ChatGPT that they would be one of the most economically valuable crops to automate. During the design process, ChatGPT made helpful suggestions, such as making a gripper out of silicone or rubber to prevent crushing tomatoes, and using a Dynamixel motor to drive the robot. ChatGPT acted as the researcher and engineer in the development process, while human researchers acted as managers and specified the design objectives. Despite concerns of potential risks of misinformation and bias in the robotic field, the research team will continue to study the capabilities of large language models, including ChatGPT, and use the tomato-harvesting robot in their research.