Humanoid Robots: Hype or the Future of Work and Daily Life?

One of Tesla’s humanoid "Optimus" robots distributes popcorn during a presentation at the Mall of Berlin on December 20, 2025. | Christoph Soeder/picture alliance via Getty Images

Humanoid robots have taken center stage in recent years, appearing in roles ranging from athletes to public servants. They’ve run half-marathons in Beijing, chased wild boars off the streets of Warsaw, and even walked the red carpet with First Lady Melania Trump at the White House. Some have been deployed as airport baggage handlers, waste sorters, and traffic cops, while others have been ordained as Buddhist monks.

With such diverse applications, humanoid robots are being hyped as the future of labor, household chores, elder care, and factory work. Elon Musk has pivoted Tesla from electric vehicles to humanoid robots, claiming they will soon outnumber humans.

What’s the Real Story Behind the Humanoid Robot Hype?

In a recent episode of Today, Explained, host Sean Rameswaram spoke with tech writer James Vincent, who authored a Harper’s Magazine cover story titled “Kicking Robots”. Their conversation explored the gap between the promise of humanoid robots and their real-world capabilities.

Below is an excerpt of their discussion, edited for length and clarity. For the full podcast, listen to Today, Explained on platforms like Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and Spotify.

James Vincent on Meeting and Testing Humanoid Robots

"There’s much more in the full podcast, so listen to Today, Explained wherever you get podcasts."

James, you’ve had the distinct privilege of doing something most of us still haven’t done — you got to meet a bunch of robots. How many robots did you meet?

I lost count after the first few, I’ll be honest. I met a few from two of the leading companies in the US. One is called Apptronik, and another is called Agility Robotics. They make two very different styles of robot.

They’re both humanoids in that they resemble a human — arms, legs, etc. — but Agility is very much focused on the warehouse, and their robots look a little bit more inhuman. They have those backward-facing knees. Apptronik makes a more general-purpose robot that looks much more like a human in terms of normal body proportion. It stands upright, and you look it eye to eye — or eye to unblinking robot eye, whatever that might be.

I got to meet them, shake hands. I played ick-ack-ock — as rock paper scissors is sometimes called in the UK. And I also — this was my heart’s content, I so wanted to do this — I wanted to kick a robot. I have that burning urge inside me that I want to get my own back before they obviously take over the world.

Did the Robots Fight Back?

So the robots were nice to you, but you weren’t that nice to them.

"Oh, I was horrible. I was terrible. They’re going to be coming for me in the future. I have no doubt about that at all."

They didn’t actually let me kick a robot, I’m very sad to say. They said it might be a bit of a safety hazard, so I got to poke one very hard with a big stick instead. And that was the next best thing. Did it tip over?

No, it didn’t tip over.