Top AI Researcher: The Skill Gap Getting People Replaced in 2026, Here's How to Fix It

1. 0:00 – 1:05

   Intro

   1. MMMarina Mogilko0:00

      For someone who's doing a repetitive job right now, what should they be doing today?

   2. DRDaniela Rus0:04

      Well, they should be training in AI, maybe in robotics. Whether you want to lead with AI, develop AI, or deploy AI, or use AI, there are different things that you need to know.

   3. MMMarina Mogilko0:15

      [upbeat music] This is Daniela Rus, MIT professor and head of the world's largest AI lab. For 30 years, she's been building the robots and AI systems that are about to change everything. She sees what others can't. In this conversation, she reveals what to do next before anyone else even knows it's coming.

   4. DRDaniela Rus0:33

      Edge AI is already here. Imagine a world where you could build your own startup using the AI tools on your phone, right in your living room.

   5. MMMarina Mogilko0:43

      When you think about the future of workforce, how do you think robots and AI are gonna change the job market?

   6. DRDaniela Rus0:49

      AI will support us with the cognitive aspects of our jobs. Robots will support us with the physical aspects of our jobs. The question is not whether robots and humans will collaborate in the workplace. The question is- [beep]

   7. MMMarina Mogilko1:04

      Daniela,

2. 1:05 – 2:37

   Will AI replace your job?

   1. MMMarina Mogilko1:05

      thank you so much for doing this. I'm thrilled to have you on Silicon Valley Girl.

   2. DRDaniela Rus1:08

      Well, thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to have this conversation with you.

   3. MMMarina Mogilko1:12

      Let's be futuristic straight away. When you think about the future of workforce, do you see any jobs being replaced in the next two or three years by robots, or we're still too far from that?

   4. DRDaniela Rus1:22

      A lot of jobs are already enhanced, and in particular, the jobs where you have high volume, uh, quite repetitive, um, activity. And so, for instance, chatbots have, um, more or less taken over customer service. But even in the space of chatbots, there are aspects that the chatbots cannot handle. And, um, for instance, I had a, a recent experience where I, um, I was interacting with a chatbot because I had a problem with a shipment, and my problem was not captured by the seven options that I could get from the chatbot. And I went around and around and around in circles, and then I went to a human, uh, to a store, and the human said, "Well, you have to talk to the chatbot because," [chuckles] "uh, because we don't do that kind-

   5. MMMarina Mogilko2:15

      Mm-hmm

   6. DRDaniela Rus2:15

      ... of work anymore." And so my point is that even in these kinds of repetitive scenarios, it is important to have a human presence-

   7. MMMarina Mogilko2:25

      Yeah

   8. DRDaniela Rus2:25

      ... because there are aspects of, of tasks that are not anticipated, that are not captured by the data that has been used to train the chatbots.

   9. MMMarina Mogilko2:36

      For someone who's

3. 2:37 – 4:36

   The real threat isn't AI

   1. MMMarina Mogilko2:37

      doing a repetitive job right now and thinks, "Well, maybe, um, [chuckles] my job is in line to getting, uh, enhanced by a robot or AI," what should they be doing today?

   2. DRDaniela Rus2:46

      Well, they should be training, uh, in, uh, AI and, uh, maybe in robotics. Um, AI s- will support us with the cognitive aspects of our jobs. Robots will support us with the physical aspects of our jobs. And in my opinion, people will not lose their jobs to AI, but they will lose their jobs to other people who know how to use AI to be better at their jobs, to be more effective and more efficient at their jobs. So my advice is to keep learning, uh, to stay current, and to understand, um, what is the state of the art with the tools that are most applicable to your domain and to the, the field you're working in.

   3. MMMarina Mogilko3:32

      How do you think robots and AI are gonna change, uh, the job market?

   4. DRDaniela Rus3:37

      I don't think we're gonna have, uh, lights-out factories for a long time, but at the same time, the question is not whether robots and humans will coordinate and collaborate in the workplace. The question is how they will cooperate and coordinate. And so what I imagine is hybrid teams with humans and robots working together. And so this kind of synergy, uh, is really a tremendous, uh, opportunity for all of us for the future because this kind of, um, synergy between human and machine can, um, can free people of, uh, doing routine work, can buy people more time to focus on strategic, um, aspects of their jobs, on human interaction, on, um, uh, curiosity and creativity, and, uh, the kinds of, um, uh, attributes that are difficult for machines to deliver today.

4. 4:36 – 6:36

   Technology that will change everything

   1. MMMarina Mogilko4:36

      Uh, if you could highlight one technology that you think is underutilized by businesses right now and by researchers who are building commercial products, what would it be?

   2. DRDaniela Rus4:46

      Well, I... [chuckles] Okay, I have to... I would say that, um, edge AI-

   3. MMMarina Mogilko4:51

      Mm-hmm

   4. DRDaniela Rus4:52

      ... uh, is already here. Uh, we already have products. Uh, we h- we already have the ability to run AI on device, and I would love to see more of this. In fact, I think we're experiencing a moment in time that's very special, and it's, uh, somewhat analogous to where the world was when, uh, we used to have only mainframe computers. This is probably before your time, but there was a point in time where all computing was in mainframes.

   5. MMMarina Mogilko5:20

      Mm-hmm.

   6. DRDaniela Rus5:20

      Those mainframe computers were about as big as this room, and we only had a handful of companies with expertise, uh, in knowing what to do with these computers. At some point, we had brilliant inventors who brought to us the PC, and the PC completely democratized computing and brought such economic wellbeing and flourishing. And with AI, I feel like we're experiencing the same moment in time today. Because right now, AI is bringing most value through industrial installations, and these industrial installations are huge and costly, and that means that a handful of companies can, uh, take advantage of them and of the technology that they enable.... but imagine a world where AI moves on device, just like computing moved from mainframes to device. Just imagine how much innovation and, and economic flourishing we will have when anybody, every company, every individual, could innovate, could build, uh, solutions and new ideas, could solve problems, uh, because they have access to more powerful tools.

5. 6:36 – 7:51

   EXCLUSIVE: Build startups from your phone

   1. MMMarina Mogilko6:36

      So basically, how would it change, uh, my day-to-day? So now I'm talking to a cloud, right? When I- I'm using an LLM, talking, talking to ChatGPT. If I have something on my device, how does the process differ?

   2. DRDaniela Rus6:47

      Well, if you have something on device, first of all, it's cheaper. It's not as, as expensive. Uh, it's more private, so you have- you will have privacy, uh, for your interaction because now every cloud interaction essentially puts all your, uh, queries, um, all your prompts, all your information back in the cloud. But then, depending on your ambitions and aspirations, you could build your own startup using the AI tools on your phone, right, um, uh, in your living room, without support from huge numbers of, uh, of developers, because AI could take on a lot of the development.

   3. MMMarina Mogilko7:31

      So basically, we need a new type of device, right, [chuckles] that has the, the operating s- the AI system running on itself?

   4. DRDaniela Rus7:37

      Well, actually, we need the AI phone, and the AI computer, and the AI glasses, and the AI everything, and these devices, uh, will put the power of AI at your fingertips.

   5. MMMarina Mogilko7:50

      Let's

6. 7:51 – 11:39

   Your morning routine in 2030

   1. MMMarina Mogilko7:51

      imagine it's 2030. You wake up, there's probably a robot in your house. What does it do? Something that will blow our minds away today.

   2. DRDaniela Rus8:00

      2030 is very soon- [chuckles] ... uh, for- from the point of view of, uh, of development and bringing technology into homes. Uh, for instance, do you know when was the first self-driving, uh, ride, uh, on a highway?

   3. MMMarina Mogilko8:13

      That's a great question. I f- the first time I saw a self-driving car was when Sergey Brin and Larry presented it-

   4. DRDaniela Rus8:18

      Okay

   5. MMMarina Mogilko8:19

      ... in Mountain View. [chuckles]

   6. DRDaniela Rus8:19

      Well, the first project, uh, in Europe was in 1985.

   7. MMMarina Mogilko8:23

      Oh, wow!

   8. DRDaniela Rus8:24

      The s- first project in the United States-

   9. MMMarina Mogilko8:26

      Mm-hmm

   10. DRDaniela Rus8:26

       ... was in 1995. There was a car that drove, uh, coast to coast with s- some human, uh, intervention. So, uh, actually, what this tells us is that the path from a successful research experiment, uh, onto a, um, a, a full-blown product that can be used in everyday life takes a long time. Um, so those are the kinds of timescales that we're looking at. And so if you will allow me to expand and think beyond 2030-

   11. MMMarina Mogilko8:57

       Absolutely

   12. DRDaniela Rus8:57

       ... uh, then I, I will say that, uh, I imagine the world full of, uh, of, uh, smart robots that help us. And so maybe by 2030, we will have our robot garbage can that will take itself out and, uh, bring itself back in. By 2030, we could have a humanoid parked as at the street corner, um, that watches us, and if you're a little bit sad, it could offer you some ice cream and serve some ice cream for you. Um, we would have actually guiding robots and security robots, so by 2030, I think we will have a lot of robots in the surface industries. And, uh, the in-home, uh, is going to be much more challenging, much more demanding. Eventually, um, we will have, uh, robotic tutors, robotic assistants. 2030 is soon, so, uh, for 2030, I would limit myself to the service field.

   13. MMMarina Mogilko9:57

       In this episode, we talk a lot about how technology is changing professions, workflows, and everyday life. As a content creator, I feel this very directly. Editing that once took days now takes hours. Short-form videos are created in minutes. Scripts are written with AI support. Many processes are already automated, and new possibilities appear constantly. One area where the shift is especially clear is audio production, because in content creation, audio quality is everything. Until recently, if something went wrong, background noise, uneven levels, a bad take, you either couldn't use the material or had to spend hours fixing it. And releasing the same content in multiple languages meant high costs, large teams, and complex coordination. Today, AI platforms handle most of this routine work. That's why my team and I partnered with and use ElevenLabs. Their Studio 3.0 has completely changed our production workflow. The company's founder, Mati Staniszewski, uh, was actually a guest on this podcast. What makes it powerful is that everything happens in one place. In a single timeline, I can generate voiceovers with exact emotional tone, add cinematic sound design and music, and instantly dub the entire piece in 20-plus languages using my own voice clone with the same expressiveness. What used to take a full team and week of tedious work can now be handled in hours by AI, letting people focus on strategy and creativity instead of routine. If you're creating content, podcast, videos, courses, definitely check out ElevenLab Studio 3.0. The link is in the description. Now, back to my conversation with Daniela.

7. 11:39 – 13:20

   Robot almost waters $2000 Italian shoes

   1. MMMarina Mogilko11:39

      What do you think about the household robot? What's the, what's the timeline for that one?

   2. DRDaniela Rus11:43

      Well, we could imagine all kinds of household robots. Even though today we see so many humanoids that are advancing in their capabilities, um, there's still a long way to go from where the state-of-the-art in research is right now to the point where we have, uh, robotic, uh, helpers. Like, I was, um, at the conference recently, and I had an interesting conversation with a humanoid. So I said, um, "Hey, robot, what can you do?"... and the answer was, "Oh, I help people in the homes." And so then I looked around, and there was a watering can and a plant, and then I said, "Well, can you water that plant?" And the robot went slowly to the watering can, watered the plant, and, uh, then came for the next ex- uh, instruction. And then I said, "Can you water my friend over here?" And the robot went to pick up the watering can and was ready to dump a lot of water on expensive Italian shoes-

   3. MMMarina Mogilko12:38

      [chuckles]

   4. DRDaniela Rus12:38

      - right next to me, and I had to say, "No, no, I, uh, I'm just kidding." The thing is that it really takes a lot of, uh, effort to develop the kind of, um, algorithmic and software infrastructure to control complex mechanisms, uh, like humanoids. And so in order to get humanoids to be better, we will need AI to be better. Additionally, today's AI tools do not have common sense. The robot at the conference did not have the common sense to understand when a watering task is appropriate and when it's not-

   5. MMMarina Mogilko13:14

      Yeah

   6. DRDaniela Rus13:14

      ... appropriate, and so we also have to make some progress on the, um, symbolic and cognitive

8. 13:20 – 14:46

   Live demo: kitchen robot makes lemonade

   1. DRDaniela Rus13:20

      level. [upbeat music]

   2. MMMarina Mogilko13:28

      Okay, it is twenty thirty. I'm in my kitchen. [laughing]

   3. DRDaniela Rus13:32

      [laughing]

   4. MMMarina Mogilko13:33

      This is my nanny [laughing] who's helping me with everything. Let's talk about her. [laughing] What does she do?

   5. DRDaniela Rus13:40

      Sure. So we've been looking at how to naturally and easily teach these types of humanoid robots new tasks, so that they can help us out around the home in places like the kitchen. So it can help you cook, it can help you do whatever types of tasks you don't necessarily want to do. So in this case, we've been looking at a lot of different kitchen tasks, like slicing cucumbers, loading the dishwasher, cleaning the table, or in this case, making lemonade. [upbeat music]

   6. MMMarina Mogilko14:06

      How many times do you need to show the robot, uh, how-

   7. DRDaniela Rus14:09

      Mm-hmm

   8. MMMarina Mogilko14:09

      ... a task is done for it to repeat?

   9. DRDaniela Rus14:11

      Yeah, so part of what we were looking at is how we can learn from fewer data, so that the person doesn't need to do it as many times. In this case, it learned from about a hundred examples, but it may-

   10. MMMarina Mogilko14:20

       Oh

   11. DRDaniela Rus14:20

       ... work with even less, but we're starting to explore that a bit now.

   12. MMMarina Mogilko14:23

       So when do you think we'll be able to have something like this in our kitchens?

   13. DRDaniela Rus14:27

       [chuckles] Well, I think it depends on how much you want the robot to do. So for these types of well-defined tasks, I think we're getting much closer.

   14. MMMarina Mogilko14:34

       Okay, can I have some lemonade, please? [laughing] Oh, my God! Nice. Is there

9. 14:46 – 16:04

   Where the money is (nobody's building)

   1. MMMarina Mogilko14:46

      a, some kind of problem that is public interest that you wish more researchers were working on because this is where AI and robotics is needed right now?

   2. DRDaniela Rus14:53

      I would say aging in place is an example-

   3. MMMarina Mogilko14:57

      Mm

   4. DRDaniela Rus14:57

      ... of a, of a, a space where we need more progress, we need more work, and in part, this is because we don't have the workforce to support the needs of, uh, aging. In eldercare, there are simple tasks, like just getting out of bed or, um, or being stable as you go from the bedroom to the kitchen, and, uh, right now, we don't really have any tools. We don't really have any equipment that can help people, uh, along the way. Now, imagine a situation where, um, there is a robot that hands you, uh, an arm and holds you, ensures that there will be no fall, and so this is a kind of, um, fairly simple, um, support, but nevertheless, an essential support.

   5. MMMarina Mogilko15:51

      I think it't an amazing business idea. I saw elderly care as one of the top growing markets because, yes, we live longer. We also need that help, and I feel like the humanoid robot that, that I just saw is already kind of capable of doing something like that.

10. 16:04 – 17:48

    Robot that fights back (must see)

    1. MMMarina Mogilko16:07

       [upbeat music]

    2. DRDaniela Rus16:09

       So the system you're seeing here is called Soft Mimic, and the idea behind it is to teach human walking to pick up a box. The problem is, uh, when you deploy the robot, it's going to make a lot of unexpected contacts with the environment that aren't captured in that motion capture data. So, uh, if it's imitating me picking up a box, uh, it might actually... the box might be in a little bit of a different spot. Uh, it might be a different size, and that's not something that you can predict ahead of time or capture in those motion references. Uh, so what Soft Mimic is, is it's a way of training the robot to have, uh, not only imitate human motions but also have a controllable compliance response, uh, to different types of external forces. I'm gonna show you what it means for the robot to be very stiff versus very compliant. So, uh, I, I've got the stiffness turned up all the way, and when I pull on the robot, it's actually going to lean, you know-

    3. MMMarina Mogilko17:00

       Ah

    4. DRDaniela Rus17:00

       ... to exert force.

    5. MMMarina Mogilko17:01

       It's trying to stabilize itself, right?

    6. DRDaniela Rus17:02

       Yeah. It's balancing different objectives of not falling over, uh, but also not letting me move its hand. Uh, and the higher I push this lever, the more it's gonna pull against me. Uh, if you want, you can also... It's very, very haptic.

    7. MMMarina Mogilko17:15

       Oh, wow.

    8. DRDaniela Rus17:15

       Uh, kind of-

    9. MMMarina Mogilko17:17

       Like, "Let me go!"

    10. DRDaniela Rus17:18

        Yeah. [chuckles]

    11. MMMarina Mogilko17:18

        "Let me go. What are you doing?"

    12. DRDaniela Rus17:20

        Um... [chuckles]

    13. MMMarina Mogilko17:20

        [laughing]

    14. DRDaniela Rus17:20

        Yeah, so it really wants to resist you.

    15. MMMarina Mogilko17:22

        Wow, it is really strong.

    16. DRDaniela Rus17:23

        Yeah. What we have is a way of training the robot to be compliant, so now I'm just turning down this knob. Uh, and then it's going to, uh... it's, it's still standing, but now it's standing with a very soft and compliant force response. Uh, which again, it's still coordinating its whole body.

    17. MMMarina Mogilko17:42

        Oh, wow. Wow.

    18. DRDaniela Rus17:42

        Uh, but now it's coordinating its body, uh, to comply and allow you to move it around.

    19. MMMarina Mogilko17:47

        For

11. 17:48 – 20:24

    Skills that will never be obsolete

    1. MMMarina Mogilko17:48

       someone whose kids are still, like, mine are four and six, what should I be teaching them to prepare them for the world, where we'll have more and more, uh, AI and robotic assistance?

    2. DRDaniela Rus17:57

       Well, I feel like we live at a point in time where everyone needs technological literacy, and this technological i- literacy includes AI literacy.... everyone needs to understand something about AI and technology, but not everyone needs to understand everything about the technologies. So depending on what your job is, whether you want to lead with AI, you want to, um, develop AI or deploy AI or use AI, there are different things that you need to know. So not everyone needs to be an AI geek, but everyone needs to know something. And so, uh, from this point of view, I would advocate literacy, not just for children, but for everyone. But on top of AI literacy, uh, there are many important subjects that continue to be important. I think math is important. I think sciences are important, literature is important, history is important, art is important. So having a kind of an inclusive general education that teaches us about our world, that teaches us where we came from, that helps us project where we're going, and how we should be going into the future, uh, in a way that is positive and supportive of each other and of the planet, is very important. On top of that, there are qualities, um, that, uh, that remain very important, especially as we contemplate a future where machines support us, and these have to do with being curious, uh, with being creative, uh, with thinking outside of the box, with having good judgment, with being collaborative, with being able to look at a situation and interpret it with critical thinking. All of these are important, uh, traits to teach our children, and they should be taught in school.

    3. MMMarina Mogilko19:56

       [screen whooshes] Quick pause here. If you're enjoying this podcast, you will absolutely love my Inner Circle newsletter. So what I basically do is I take all the tips from these podcasts and apply them to my personal life, to my investment portfolio, and to my businesses, this media company and my language teaching business. Sometimes we get amazing results, and I share our real tactics. Sometimes we don't, and I share that, too. Think of it as an insider version of this podcast. The link is in the description. Join my free newsletter to stay ahead. [screen whooshes] Do you

12. 20:24 – 22:15

    Why memorization still matters

    1. MMMarina Mogilko20:24

       think formal education is still going to be important in 10 or 15 years? So you- you've done your bachelor's, right, master's, PhD. Do you feel like everyone... Like, the, the amount of people that are following this path today, do you feel it's gonna stay the same, or less and less people would choose traditional, like, formal university education?

    2. DRDaniela Rus20:44

       I believe formal university education is very important because, um, at university, you learn how to think, you learn how to solve problems, you learn how to find your way forward. The education at, uh, in school and at the university is not just about memorizing things. Uh, it's really also about thinking, about judgment, about projecting into the future. I also believe that knowing things is important. So... And I think I'm, uh, I, I'm, I'm not, uh, in the, the majority camp here, uh, because a lot of my colleagues believe that with access to the world's knowledge through the word- worldwide web, what's the point-

    3. MMMarina Mogilko21:26

       Mm-hmm

    4. DRDaniela Rus21:27

       ... of knowing things? But knowing things enables us to be creative. Uh, creativity is about connecting concepts that are seemingly, uh, disparate.

    5. MMMarina Mogilko21:40

       Like you connected biology to AI.

    6. DRDaniela Rus21:42

       Yes, if we didn't know about biology, and we didn't know about AI, maybe Liquid Networks would not have been born.

    7. MMMarina Mogilko21:48

       Yeah.

    8. DRDaniela Rus21:49

       So creativity and out-of-the-box thinking is about, uh, looking at the world in, in different ways and, and connecting parts of the world that are seemingly different. Also, knowing things enables us to enjoy the world, to enjoy each other, to understand each other, so there is an aspect of, of life and living that comes with knowledge.

    9. MMMarina Mogilko22:14

       If you could witness

13. 22:15 – 24:42

    Her biggest dream: Reversing aging

    1. MMMarina Mogilko22:15

       one breakthrough in robotics in your lifetime, that would make you say, "We did it," what would it be?

    2. DRDaniela Rus22:21

       Well, let's see. We live in a very crowded city, and if you walk in the streets, um, will you see any robot? Probably not, right? So I'd say, where are the robots today?

    3. MMMarina Mogilko22:33

       Mm-hmm.

    4. DRDaniela Rus22:34

       Uh, when we see a robot, we pause and think, "Oh, wow, what a miracle. There is a robot." What I would like to see is a world where robots are so integrated into the fabric of life that, um, we... They're just there. Th- they are, they're part of how we approach everyday life, and we don't, um, we don't marvel that there is a robot-

    5. MMMarina Mogilko22:58

       Mm

    6. DRDaniela Rus22:58

       ... in front of us. Um, that means we have to make machines useful. We have to make them capable. We have to make them trustworthy and reliable. So from the point of view of, of robots, this is what I would like to see. This requires advances-

    7. MMMarina Mogilko23:15

       Yeah

    8. DRDaniela Rus23:15

       ... in so many ways because we have to advance the hardware. Uh, we have to advance the, um, the algorithms. We have to advance both the body and the brain of the machine, and also the way we interact with machines and the way machines interact with each other. Uh, so these are really continuous challenges in our field. And so since you asked me about the breakthrough, I will tell you that, um, a non-robotic breakthrough that I would love to see in, uh, my lifetime is, uh, the ability to age healthily.

    9. MMMarina Mogilko23:49

       Mm.

    10. DRDaniela Rus23:50

        So longevity, and in other words, healthy longevity-

    11. MMMarina Mogilko23:54

        Yeah

    12. DRDaniela Rus23:54

        ... is something that we should put some effort, uh, into, and maybe even reversing aging. Who knows?

    13. MMMarina Mogilko24:01

        Yeah, yeah, that's a big one. Totally. If you could give a piece of advice to a 19-year-old self when you just arrived in the US, what would it be?

    14. DRDaniela Rus24:10

        Well, I would say life is different from what you imagine, and you have to be very flexible and adaptive and open-minded, and, um, you have to approach things with a positive, uh, open-minded, problem-solving way.

    15. MMMarina Mogilko24:28

        This is fascinating. Thank you so much. This inspired me a lot and hopefully inspired a lot of young scientists and entrepreneurs to build something, and I'm particularly excited about the longevity part and, like, taking care of elderly people.

    16. DRDaniela Rus24:40

        So thank you very much-

    17. MMMarina Mogilko24:41

        Thank you

    18. DRDaniela Rus24:41

        ... for having me on your show.

Episode duration: 24:42