Tech
Humans keep building robots that are shaped like us—what’s the point?
Robots come in a vast array of shapes and sizes. By definition, they’re machines that perform automatic tasks and can be operated by humans, but sometimes work autonomously—without human help.
Most of these machines are built for a specific purpose: think of the puck-shaped robot vacuum or a robotic assembly arm in a factory. But recently, human-shaped or humanoid robots have increasingly entered the spotlight.
Humanoid robots are exactly what they sound like—machines with arms, legs, a torso and a head, typically walking upright on two legs. Investment in humanoid robot development has been skyrocketing recently. If you have several thousand dollars, some are already available for purchase.
But why is there so much interest in human-shaped robots? What are they good for, apart from showcases such as Beijing’s World Humanoid Robot Games or funky dance routine videos?
A machine just like us
A robot vacuum is a single-purpose machine. The promise of humanoid robots is they might work as general-purpose platforms, doing multiple tasks in various environments.
That’s because robots similar in shape to humans can potentially better fit into human environments—ones already designed for bodies and physical capabilities such as ours.
A robot vacuum—or any other machine with wheels—can’t climb the stairs. In principle, humanoids would be much more mobile in busy human environments, able to climb stairs, use doors, navigate and reach diverse spaces not just at home, but our workplaces, streets and the outdoors.
Humanoid robots existed in entertainment long before humans actually built one. From Maschinenmensch in Fritz Lang’s 1927 film Metropolis to C-3PO in Star Wars, they’ve influenced our imagination. Of course, these were costumed actors—real humanoid robots didn’t start walking until WABOT-1 in 1972, built in Japan.
A lucrative industry?
Developers, manufacturers and investors have been betting big on humanoid robots and believe they will have an enormous impact on society.
Last year, a Goldman Sachs report estimated the global market for humanoid robots would be US$38 billion by 2035 (A$58 billion), with between 3 million and 27 million humanoid robots installed worldwide. They could be “particularly appealing” for dangerous tasks, potentially saving the lives of human workers who could delegate hazardous jobs to robots.
A 2025 Bank of America report estimates there will be 1 million humanoid robots sold annually by 2030, and a staggering 3 billion humanoid robots in service by 2060—that’s almost one humanoid for every three humans.
Even conservative estimates of the future number of humanoid robots signal a significant shift across nearly all aspects of society.
However, to achieve this impact humanoids would truly need to be everywhere, including entertainment, care, home, services and hospitality.
In reality, the path to a multi-talented, general-purpose robot is still a fair way off.
We’re not yet living in the future
Building a machine that can move like a human is notoriously difficult.
In recent years, humanoid robots have vastly improved thanks in large part to artificial intelligence (AI) learning algorithms that are augmenting and even replacing previous robot programming methods.
AI methods such as reinforcement learning are generating more robust walking, running and high-level skills that adjust better to uneven terrain and external challenges like being pushed or bumped.
But machines like those these robot kick-boxers are still under human control when deciding which moves to do, although they can autonomously keep balance even when doing complex kicks and punches.
General logic, situational and socially appropriate awareness are also still rather basic. Robots need help from humans to act appropriately. For example, humanoid robots don’t understand the physical, social and cultural differences in how to appropriately engage with a baby, a child, an adult or an older person.
The game-changer that could give us truly general-purpose humanoid robots would have to be an ability to draw on human knowledge and skills directly. For example, you could show a robot how to wash the dishes and it would then copy your behavior.
To do so, however, robots also need to become more adaptable to different environments—not just the lab they were trained in.
Recently, AI learning techniques such as imitation learning or learning from demonstration and deep reinforcement learning that uses powerful algorithms have been showing great results in speeding up how robots pick up new, complex skills from examples.
The next smartphone?
Current predictions for when humanoids will be in your home vary widely. While some robots are already tested in home environments, others suggest consumer applications could be five to ten years away.
Companies such as Boston Dynamics (Hyundai), Tesla, Unitree, Figure AI, Agility, UBTech and many more are now vying for a place in a future market they think could be as big as the car industry and “as ubiquitous as smartphones.”
However, critics argue robot designs still need to improve to truly match human dexterity.
If humanoid robots really do enter our homes en masse, the future social impact could be enormous and is little understood. It will require concerted leadership from business, government, research and public to see that such a momentous change has a positive impact on people’s lives.
And while this future is not yet certain, it’s one we’ve been collectively imagining for at least 100 years.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Humans keep building robots that are shaped like us—what’s the point? (2025, August 20)
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Tech
Lenovo’s Latest Wacky Concepts Include a Laptop With a Built-In Portable Monitor
Do you like having a second screen with your computer setup? What if your laptop could carry a second screen for you? That’s the idea behind Lenovo’s latest proof of concept, the ThinkBook Modular AI PC, announced at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
Lenovo is never shy to show off wacky, weird concept laptops. We’ve seen a PC with a transparent screen, one with a rollable OLED screen, a swiveling screen, and another with a flippy screen. At CES earlier this year, the company showed off a gaming laptop with a display that expands at the push of a button. Sometimes, these concepts turn into real products that go on sale (often in limited quantities).
At MWC 2026, Lenovo trotted out three concepts. While it’s unclear whether any of them will become real, purchasable products, there’s some unique utility here, and a peek at how computing experiences could change in the future.
A Laptop With a Built-In Portable Screen
As someone with a multi-screen setup at home and a fondness for portable monitors, the ThinkBook Modular AI PC appeals to me the most. At first glance, it looks like a normal laptop. Take a look behind, and you’ll notice there’s a second screen magnetically hanging off the back of the laptop, like a koala carrying a baby on its back.
The screen is connected to the laptop using pogo-pin connectors, so you can use it in this state to display content to people in front of you, say, if you were making a presentation during a meeting. Alternatively, you can pop this second screen off, remove a hidden kickstand resting under the laptop, and magnetically attach it to the 14-inch screen so that you have a traditional portable monitor experience. (You’ll need to connect this to the laptop via a USB-C cable in this orientation.)
If you don’t have the desk space for that orientation, you can always remove the keyboard from the base and pop the second screen there—it’ll auto-connect to the laptop via the pogo pins, and you’ll be able to use the Bluetooth keyboard to type on a dual-screen setup that resembles the Asus ZenBook Duo. The whole system is a fantastically portable method of improving productivity on the go, and the laptop isn’t too thick or cumbersome.
Tech
The 5 Big ‘Known Unknowns’ of Donald Trump’s New War With Iran
More recently, Iran has been a regular adversary in cyberspace—and while it hasn’t demonstrated quite the acuity of Russia or China, Iran is “good at finding ways to maximize the impact of their capabilities,” says Jeff Greene, the former executive assistant director of cybersecurity at CISA. Iran, in particular, famously was responsible for a series of distributed-denial-of-service attacks on Wall Street institutions that worried financial markets, and its 2012 attack on Saudi Aramco and Qatar’s Rasgas marked some of the earliest destructive infrastructure cyberattacks.
Today, surely, Iran is weighing which of these tools, networks, and operatives it might press into a response—and where, exactly, that response might come. Given its history of terror campaigns and cyberattacks, there’s no reason to think that Iran’s retaliatory options are limited to missiles alone—or even to the Middle East at all.
Which leads to the biggest known unknown of all:
5. How does this end? There’s an apocryphal story about a 1970s conversation between Henry Kissinger and a Chinese leader—it’s told variously as either Mao-Tse Tung or Zhou Enlai. Asked about the legacy of the French revolution, the Chinese leader quipped, “Too soon to tell.” The story almost surely didn’t happen, but it’s useful in speaking to a larger truth particularly in societies as old as the 2,500-year-old Persian empire: History has a long tail.
As much as Trump (and the world) might hope that democracy breaks out in Iran this spring, the CIA’s official assessment in February was that if Khamenei was killed, he would be likely replaced with hardline figures from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. And indeed, the fact that Iran’s retaliatory strikes against other targets in the Middle East continued throughout Saturday, even after the death of many senior regime officials—including, purportedly, the defense minister—belied the hope that the government was close to collapse.
The post-World War II history of Iran has surely hinged on three moments and its intersections with American foreign policy—the 1953 CIA coup, the 1979 revolution that removed the shah, and now the 2026 US attacks that have killed its supreme leader. In his recent bestselling book King of Kings, on the fall of the shah, longtime foreign correspondent Scott Anderson writes of 1979, “If one were to make a list of that small handful of revolutions that spurred change on a truly global scale in the modern era, that caused a paradigm shift in the way the world works, to the American, French, and Russian Revolutions might be added the Iranian.”
It is hard not to think today that we are living through a moment equally important in ways that we cannot yet fathom or imagine—and that we should be especially wary of any premature celebration or declarations of success given just how far-reaching Iran’s past turmoils have been.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has repeatedly bragged about how he sees the military and Trump administration’s foreign policy as sending a message to America’s adversaries: “F-A-F-O,” playing off the vulgar colloquialism. Now, though, it’s the US doing the “F-A” portion in the skies over Iran—and the long arc of Iran’s history tells us that we’re a long, long way from the “F-O” part where we understand the consequences.
Let us know what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor at mail@wired.com.
Tech
This Backyard Smoker Delivers Results Even a Pitmaster Would Approve Of
While my love of smoked meats is well-documented, my own journey into actually tending the fire started just last spring when I jumped at the opportunity to review the Traeger Woodridge Pro. When Recteq came calling with a similar offer to check out the Flagship 1600, I figured it would be a good way to stay warm all winter.
While the two smokers have a lot in common, the Recteq definitely feels like an upgrade from the Traeger I’ve been using. Not only does it have nearly twice the cooking space, but the huge pellet hopper, rounded barrel, and proper smokestack help me feel like a real pitmaster.
The trade-off is losing some of the usability features that make the Woodridge Pro a great first smoker. The setup isn’t as quite as simple, and the larger footprint and less ergonomic conditions require a little more experience or patience. With both options, excellent smoked meat is just a few button presses away, but speaking as someone with both in their backyard, I’ve been firing up the Recteq more often.
Getting Settled
Photograph: Brad Bourque
Setting up the Recteq wasn’t as time-consuming as the Woodridge, but it was more difficult to manage on my own. Some of the steps, like attaching the bull horns to the lid, or flipping the barrel onto its stand, would really benefit from a patient friend or loved one. Like most smokers, you’ll need to run a burn-in cycle at 400 degrees Fahrenheit to make sure there’s nothing left over from manufacturing or shipping. Given the amount of setup time and need to cool down the smoker after, I would recommend setting this up Friday afternoon if you want to smoke on a Saturday.
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