Originally published in The Boston Globe on June 18, 2026.
A video recently went viral showing a robot dancing to “Billie Jean,” stumbling midsong, and then being dragged off stage by a helper. Although the video elicited laughs online, there are many more videos of humanoid robots folding laundry, serving drinks, and playing competitive sports without any issues.
With all the discussion about “autonomous” robots or “intelligent” AI that supposedly think and act on their own, it’s easy to imagine a future where these technologies will replace human workers. But as someone who spent a year embedded inside a robotics laboratory as a researcher, I know that the technologies are nowhere near as independent as they’re made out to be.