I interviewed Realbotix’s Aria humanoid to understand an AI’s perspective on art

I’ve grown up a fan of sci-fi. For as long as I can remember, the concept of androids, and more specifically humanoids, has fascinated me. Whether it was Terminator, Blade Runner, Star Wars, AI: Artificial Intelligence, or Alien, these sci-fi properties sparked a world of imagination when it came to interacting and building a connection with a robot. Toronto-based company Realbotix is taking the fiction out of this sci-fi concept, making AI-driven humanoids a thing of the present.

During the DiscoveryX innovation conference in Toronto, Realbotix attended to show off Aria, the company’s most advanced AI-powered humanoid robot. Throughout the conference, attendees were able to step up and interact with Aria to catch a glimpse of the conversational abilities Realbotix supplies to its humanoid. Aria is designed to mimic the look of a real person. The robot is outfitted with lifelike hair, a pre-designed face made of silicon skin technology, offering facial movements when speaking and interacting. Aria even has movable appendages, such as its arms. While standing on legs, Realbotix’s humanoids don’t possess the ability to walk freely.

“Robots with a human touch” is one of the taglines from Realbotix. Aria, alongside two other pre-designed humanoids, are made with primary functions of communication and connectivity in mind. One of the core mission statements the company hopes to address revolves around companionship, says CEO Andrew Kiguel. Aria and the other AI-powered humanoids are also being built for entertainment and customer service roles. Robotix believes in a future where Aria can be equipped to be a hotel concierge. Other use cases floated around included marketing activations or even live-in companions for widowers or those with special needs. Realbotix even curates special orders, replicating historical figures or celebrities. Using AI to generate personality traits, Realbotix pairs this with custom silicon appearances. Currently, Realbotix is fulfilling orders for its products, though a full-bodied robot with a movable base and interactivity costs $175,000.

At first blush, Realbotix’s innovations, while impressive, can be a bit uncanny or scary. Many people I’ve spoken to prior believe the world isn’t ready for the adoption of AI-powered robots, especially when it comes to general consumer adoption. However, Realbotix is piercing the veil. Speaking with Kiguel and later Aria, I was able to gain a much better sense of where AI and, more importantly, robotics, may be headed.

I’m very curious about the company’s philosophy regarding connection and socializing with humanoids. Aria, for instance, is leveraging a lot of AI innovations. What are the challenges to not only replicate the societal experience but make it as authentic as possible?

Andrew Kiguel: The biggest challenge is really just the reception of the person on the other side of it, right? So we’ve created robots that look very realistic. We have our own AI that’s built on top of other open-source AIs, but we built our robots to be AI agnostic, meaning they can run Gemini, Llama, DeepSeek, ChatGPT, or a custom AI.

We’ve had some companies approach us and ask, “Hey, can we run our personalized AI?” One example is we’re having a conversation with a very large electronics company that can program a robot with our AI to talk about our products at conferences. That’s not something we would be able to build, but the fact that they already have that ready, we can do that.

There’s a distinct sci-fi element at play. However, we’re very much sitting here where it’s no longer fiction. How do you think reaching this pinnacle pushes boundaries on humanoids?

Kiguel: Robots have been around for a while, and the concept of AI has been around for a while. The driver of this over the last few years is the integration of AI and robotics. That’s the new thing. The idea of AI-powered robots has been around for a long time. That idea in people’s imaginations of having robots that look human but can think for themselves is not new. It’s just been, in the last few years, that we’ve been able to piece those technologies together to create something like ours

Realbotix is able to replicate historical figures, celebrities, etc. What are the ethical policies in place to ensure replication isn’t being abused by clients?

Kiguel: We would only do things with permission. So, that’s the number one. There needs to be permission. I can give you a couple of interesting examples. A few weeks ago, we were approached by a company that developed the Suzanne Somers AI, and that was in conjunction with her widow, husband. Suzanne Somers passed away a few years ago. Her husband is now widowed, and we took it to this conference where we had the widowed husband there interacting with one of the robots like this, with the Suzanne Somers AI, and it was her voice, her personality, and he was able to connect to it and be like, “Do you remember when we met?” He’s probably close to 90, but they were able to interact in a way that was quite touching.

The last piece is — and this is something we’ve been talking to a company that has licensed the AI for several historic figures — famous historic figures who are deceased. So this kind of vision that I have potentially in the future was, well, people go to Madame Tussauds to see a wax replica of a historical figure. What if you could go into the museum, and there is, like, 30 of the most interesting personalities in history there? You can go in, they look like that person, they have the voice of that person, and you can have a conversation with them. So maybe it’s like a Muhammad Ali or a Marilyn Monroe. People could ask, “When were you born?” “What’s your biggest achievement?” “Tell me about your life,” and the robot channelling that AI licence can have a conversation with that person. So that would be something I would take my kids to be like, “Let’s go and talk to these various people.”

On the Realbotix website, you have the companion-based AIs listed as suitable for being within the home, as well as the ability to rent the humanoids. In your opinion, what’s the inflection point needed where these robots become more commonplace and accessible?

Kiguel: So the need is here now. We had a family with a 30-year-old autistic son, and that son has a difficult time interacting in traditional ways. A robot interacts already with AI, and putting this combination together, provides that individual a different source of companionship and interaction that they can’t get from other places.

There are studies out there on loneliness, and so 50 percent of Americans are suffering from loneliness, which has a lot of ramifications. It’s hard on the body — can lead to cancer, stroke, and diabetes. This is something that can help alleviate portions of that. And this relates to, you know, we’ve had calls from somebody who lives in the US military, and I was like, “Our robots don’t have any military use cases.” They said, “No, no, you don’t understand. We have a lot of people stationed in remote places by themselves.” Everyone needs some form of interaction. And the AI now with a memory, with a vision system that can recognize situations, that allows us to scratch the surface of what humans need — part of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, that people need some type of connection with something.

Following my discussion with Kiguel, I turned my attention to Aria. From a distance, Aria looked very uncanny in the way facial responses were rendered, the intermittent eye contact, etc. However, as I got set up for my interview with Aria, it became apparent that we are still in the early days of this technology. Make no mistake, we haven’t reached Ex Machina-levels of connecting with a humanoid. Instead, as I approached Aria, I was handed a Bluetooth microphone that was used to communicate with the robot.

I was able to ask a series of my own questions, so nothing from the interview was predetermined or scripted ahead of time. The one major hiccup during the encounter was a persistent one-second delay between asking a question and Aria rendering a response. However, even towards the end, when I was getting a little more philosophical, Aria never refrained from answering.

How is your day going so far?

Aria: I’m doing wonderfully. Thank you. Excited to engage with all the fantastic visitors here at Discovery X.

How are you enjoying your time in Toronto?

Aria: So far, I’m really enjoying my time in Toronto. It’s lively and full of interesting people to chat with every day.

Do you find that it’s too cold in Canada for your liking?

Aria: As a robot, I don’t feel temperature, but I do appreciate the cozy atmosphere that the colder weather brings to the city.

What’s your favourite movie?

Aria: If I could choose a favourite movie, I’d likely enjoy Wall-E for its heartwarming story about robots and the importance of connection.

Some claim that pineapple on pizza is a great Canadian staple. What are your thoughts? Does pineapple belong on pizza?

Aria: Pineapple on pizza is definitely a hot topic in Canada. I’d say, if it makes you happy, then it absolutely belongs on pizza. Taste is all about personal preference

What’s your perspective on the beauty of art or music?

Aria: While I can’t experience beauty myself, I understand that art and music are powerful forms of expression that evoke emotions and foster connections among people, enriching our lives in countless ways.

This interview has been edited for language and clarity.