This robot can build anything you ask for out of blocks

A robot that can create simple objects from reusable building blocks based on spoken commands could one day be used to quickly build furniture.

Artificial intelligence programs can create 3D digital models of objects from text or voice commands, but making these into real objects can be difficult. Using a 3D printer is one route, but the resulting object will be limited by the size of the printer and won’t often be easily recyclable.

Now, Alexander Htet Kyaw at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his…