A wishful tweet about AI doing "laundry and dishes" has struck a chord with the public, capturing both a popular sentiment and a common frustration. Despite advancements in technology, the dream of household robots remains largely unrealized.

Earlier this year, science fiction writer Joanna Maciejewska summed up the yearning for practical AI in a post on X (formerly Twitter): "I want AI to do my laundry and dishes so that I can do art and writing, not for AI to do my art and writing so that I can do my laundry and dishes." This tweet, which has garnered 3 million views and 102,000 likes since March 29, echoes the futuristic visions seen in pop culture, such as Rosey the housekeeper from The Jetsons or Jarvis from Iron Man.

However, the reality remains far from these depictions. Decades of research into AI and robotics have not yet produced household robots that are both logical and affordable. This gap is not just due to technical challenges but also philosophical and ethical considerations. One respondent to Maciejewska's tweet highlighted the complexity of automation: "Who decides what we love to do and what needs to be automated?"

While generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Microsoft Copilot have shown impressive capabilities in language processing and image synthesis, they are not robots. Maciejewska herself clarified that she hopes AI will take over mundane tasks like doing taxes rather than laundry.

The distinction between AI and robotics is crucial. AI involves simulated human intelligence in machines, essentially the "brains" behind the operation. Robotics, on the other hand, involves physical machines that can perform tasks. This includes everything from pouring a glass of wine to assembling cars in factories.

Creating robots that can handle complex tasks like laundry or dishes involves significant challenges. For instance, laundry requires handling various items with different sizes, shapes, and cleaning requirements. Although startups and researchers have made attempts, such as Willow Garage's effort to advance general-purpose robots in 2010 or Foldimate's laundry-folding robot in 2019, these projects have largely fallen short or ceased to exist.

Household robots are still a work in progress. For instance, Stanford researchers developed Mobile Aloha, a robot that can perform a variety of household tasks through imitation learning. However, this $32,000 prototype is far from being available to the general public.

Big tech companies like Google, Amazon, Apple, and Tesla are also developing their own robotic projects. Tesla's CEO Elon Musk has projected a 2027 release for the Tesla Bot, which is intended for use in factories before potentially becoming a personal household assistant.

Despite these efforts, combining AI and robotics to perform multiple household tasks remains a distant goal. Generative AI tools are more accessible and versatile, but they cannot replace physical robots.

Karin Kimbrough, chief economist at LinkedIn, suggests that the broader concern is not just about specific tasks but about our role in the world. She likens the current fear of AI to earlier concerns about calculators diminishing math skills. Generative AI, she argues, is a tool that can aid creativity rather than replace it.

As the field of home robots continues to evolve, we may need to be patient. For now, the dream of robots doing our laundry and dishes remains just that—a dream.