The generality-versus-specialization debate in IROS robotics

At IROS 2026, Ken Goldberg and Andrea Bajcsy moderated a debate on whether robots should be general-purpose or specialized. Matt Mason opened with "Should animals become human?", and several researchers discussed topics including the gap between tool use and precise manipulation in general-purpose models (coarse placement 19/20 vs. precise insertion 2/20) and the idea that generalists write curricula while specialists execute them. Ken Goldberg called it a "great summary."