This article was published in 2013 and updated in October 2026.
Robots play a growing role in everyday life — far beyond the humanoid robots most people imagine. When we first wrote about robotics research in 2013, Honda’s walking robot ASIMO and Google’s experimental self-driving car were the stars of the field. More than a decade later, many of the ideas that seemed futuristic then are part of daily life, while others turned out to be much harder than expected. Here is a look at where robotics stands today.
What is a robot?
A robot is a machine that can sense its environment, process that information and act on it — moving, grasping or navigating with some degree of autonomy. That includes humanoid robots like ASIMO, but also industrial robot arms on assembly lines, robot vacuum cleaners, warehouse robots and self-driving cars. Most robots work out of sight, in factories, warehouses, hospitals and labs.
From experiments to everyday use
- Industrial robots: according to the International Federation of Robotics, more than four million industrial robots now work in factories worldwide, with China by far the largest market. “Cobots” — collaborative robots — work safely alongside people without safety cages.
- Self-driving cars: Google’s self-driving car project became Waymo in 2016. Waymo now runs fully driverless robotaxi services in several US cities, and other companies are testing similar services in the US, China and Europe. Driving everywhere, in all conditions, remains a hard problem.
- Warehouses and logistics: fleets of mobile robots move shelves and parcels in large distribution centres, and delivery robots and drones are being tested for the “last mile”.
- Medicine: surgical robots such as the da Vinci system assist surgeons in millions of minimally invasive operations, and robotic exoskeletons help some people with paralysis to stand and walk.
- Construction: large 3D printers can now print the walls of houses, an idea that was still experimental (“contour crafting”) in 2013.
Humanoid robots are back
Honda stopped developing ASIMO in 2018, but humanoid robots have made a comeback. Boston Dynamics introduced an all-electric version of its Atlas robot in 2024, and companies such as Agility Robotics, Figure and Tesla are developing humanoids for factories and warehouses. Thanks to advances in artificial intelligence, robots are getting better at understanding instructions, recognising objects and learning new tasks — although reliable, affordable general-purpose robots are still some way off.
Not every prediction came true
In 2013, many futurists expected technologies such as vacuum-tube transport to transform travel within a few years. The best-known effort, Hyperloop One, shut down in 2023 without building a passenger system. Fully self-driving private cars also took far longer than predicted. Robotics often advances in small steps rather than overnight revolutions.
What does it mean for jobs and society?
Robots and automation take over many repetitive, dirty or dangerous tasks, and some jobs — for example in manufacturing and warehousing — are changing or disappearing. At the same time, new jobs appear in programming, maintaining and supervising robots, and in many countries automation helps make up for shortages of workers. How the benefits are shared, how workers are retrained and how robots and AI are regulated are some of the most important questions for the coming years. The EU’s AI Act and safety rules for machinery are early examples of how lawmakers are responding.
What’s next?
Expect robots to become more common in hospitals, care homes, farms, warehouses and our homes, while AI makes them more flexible and easier to work with. The most visible changes may not be humanoid robots walking down the street, but the many invisible robots that keep goods, transport and production running.
Rashmi Sinha
Mar 09. 2013
According to me, a robot will represent our alter ego in near future.
They will be highly adaptable to human needs and will have high intellectual level.
Thanks for this “prophecy”.
Abhishek
Mar 20. 2013
i m sure there will be a day where there will be robots in place of soldiers in all armies
cheatsjungle
Apr 05. 2013
As someone said there ^, it’s matter of time when soldiers iwll be replaced by robots in armies.
Nina
Aug 15. 2013
I think we will have a great future with this possibilities. I´m from germany and we are always a little bit behind but this is also a good chance for the german industry.
Tech Crates
Aug 16. 2013
Hi Nina, we Germans are innovators in technology and not really a litte bit behind 😉 Compared to China, uncontrolled rapid growth is not sustainable.
Viele Grüße aus Stuttgart,
Carsten
Tech Crates
Sep 04. 2013
Latest robotics update: Inroducing new technology Gadgets
Matt
Sep 12. 2013
This paints a bleak vision of the future, but its not wholly inaccurate. Since our experience with robotics is still fairly new, we are still attempting to strike the balance between technological worth and human worth. As we understand it today, we’re only starting to see how increased technology devalues humanity, but we’ll strike a balance.
Abhay
Oct 22. 2013
Thats Great. I m happy to read this article.
Antoinette
Jan 15. 2014
Robots can do beyond the reach of humans. But it will affect much in the future! And have time reading your article. It may or may not!
Shailesh
Mar 19. 2014
Yes. very nice post. I really liked, someone who write on a Metadata.
Google crawls all pages with the help of these metadata. It’s need for every blog and should put it over there with the help of any SEO plugins. Thanks for sharing this.. 🙂
Donald
Mar 19. 2014
It’s kind of scary thinking that robots could replace us in jobs like construction and lower the amount of work available. But then I think about some of the jobs that would become available, for example programing. We lose some jobs but I think others will present themselves.
Tech Crates
Apr 10. 2014
I love the new ‘Almost Human’ episodes 🙂
Maxi
Jul 29. 2014
one day will come where all the dangerous works done by robots such as high voltage wire shifting, war front etc well written Lindsey JD 🙂
aykan osgb
Dec 30. 2014
its good. Thanks
Engineer Tomorrow
Aug 11. 2015
You have painted a very gloomy picture 🙁
I don’t think robotics is all bad though. While it is replacing many jobs, it is also helping us reach new levels of development. For example, we have been able to send robots into space to explore the boundaries of our solar system. We can also manufacture things much more quickly and efficiently, enabling lower-priced goods for consumers. I believe our society is currently going through a period of transition, similar to the industrial revolution in the 1800’s. At that time, it was also believed machines would remove skilled labor from the work force. Instead, it simply shifted the role people played in the workforce.
Anyways, I enjoyed reading your post and taking a different look at the effects of robotic developments on society.