No one has mentioned it so I'm going to - one of the applications of these robots is as caregivers in countries with disproportionately aging populations versus young populations (like Japan).
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00072-zhttps://www.beingpatient.com/robot-caregivers-dementia/Some of this tech already exists but the robots are very not humanlike. They look more like toys. The closer they can get to moving like humans and performing capably in human environments then it is more likely they can supplement or even replace traditional human caregiver tasks.
There is also the market for humanoid robots in stunt performance roles. Very (in)famously, the Spiderman Musical on Broadway was cancelled because no human stunt performer could reliably do the show without breaking their necks.
https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20201125-how-a-spider-man-musical-became-a-theatrical-disasterNowadays, there are "stuntronic" machines that can do aerial acrobatics that would probably injure/kill humans:
So - if you can create reliable bipedal robots and combine that with the significant advancements in AI and vision imaging, you can integrate them into doing menial labors like trash collection, meal service, cashiering, etc.
Eventually they will become cheap enough to compete with actual human beings both in raw dollars and in headaches (who needs a fully staffed HR department when the robots don't take breaks, lunches, use the bathroom, or try to sexually harass each other?).
There is a way to go still but I think a future like Westworld is very likely to happen - and will go through the same development pains Dr. Ford laments. And of course, the comment Dr. Ford makes about Ol' Bill being a good listener is exactly why these kinds of robotics are useful in caregiving roles:
Addendum:
And as I was writing this, Bud posted and made similar points about usefulness in entertainment. Even so, I will add that some I think are reading too literally into the backflips. It's a demonstration of capability... not literally what these robots are exclusively being built to do.
