Risks and benefits
From ancient mythological beings to cutting-edge technology, humanity’s quest to create mechanical replicas of ourselves spans millennia. Talos, the bronze guardian of Crete forged by Hephaestus around 700 BCE, represents one of our earliest visions of what we now call a robot—a mechanical being that could think, move, and act like a human.
Today, this ancient dream edges closer to reality. Companies like Tesla with Optimus, Hanson Robotics with Sophia, and researchers like Hiroshi Ishiguro with his Geminoids are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. However, as we stand on the threshold of achieving truly functional humanoid robots, fundamental questions arise about their place in our society.
The drive behind human-like machines
As explained here, associate Professor Janie Busby Grant, psychology lead researcher at the University of Canberra’s Collaborative Robotics Lab, identifies multiple factors motivating humanoid development:
“There are a number of different factors driving the development of humanoid robots, some of them psychological, and some of them practical. Designing a robot that mimics our shape and capabilities means it should be able to travel through doors, stairs, and rooms; operate cars and other equipment; and flick switches, turn knobs, and operate interfaces the way we do.”
The practical argument is compelling—our world is built for human bodies. While specialized robots already excel at specific tasks (such as cleaning robots, industrial arms, and drones), none offer the comprehensive adaptability that the human form promises.
Beyond practicality lies a deeper psychological motivation. Creating beings in our image satisfies our desire for emotional connection and reflection.
“Often designers are trying to encourage people to see the robot as ‘alive’ and to attribute human-like features such as emotions, beliefs, and preferences to it. Providing a humanoid body shape makes this easier for us to do and hopefully makes the robot more effective,” explains Busby Grant.
Cultural expectations also play a crucial role. Decades of science fiction have conditioned us to expect humanoid robots, and companies are responding to these societal assumptions.
“Most people want humanoid robots to look and behave in a certain way, and fiction has been a key factor driving these ideas. Companies are catering to social expectations. Movies, TV shows, and fiction have all told us that robots will look roughly like us and that technology will deliver us humanoid robots sooner rather than later.”
While some envision robots as companions addressing widespread loneliness, Busby Grant remains cautious:
“There are serious social and ethical concerns around designing robots to replace or augment human companionship. But the systems we have currently, and in the near future, are not going to be able to replicate the complexity, nuance, and positive outcomes of human engagement.”
The engineering challenge
Professor Damith Herath, who founded the University of Canberra’s Collaborative Robotics Lab, confronts the staggering complexity of recreating human form daily:
“There’s not one day that I go without thinking about how amazing our body is. We are trying to create humanoid forms that can work in the same environments as humans, but humans are complex beings.”
The technical challenges are immense. The human arm alone contains approximately seven degrees of freedom, while the entire body possesses 250-350 joints. Translating this into robotics means coordinating hundreds of motors and actuators through sophisticated algorithms.
“All of these different complexities need to work in tandem. You’re looking at hundreds of motors and actuators, each one monitored through a central system. There are a huge number of different algorithms working to just keep the whole system from falling over. And that’s without achieving any specific goal. If you want to get something done, that adds layers of mechanical, algorithmic, and societal complexities as well.”
Even seemingly simple tasks reveal extraordinary complexity. Two of Herath’s PhD students are working on teaching robots to sort waste—a task humans perform effortlessly but which requires a nuanced understanding of different materials and textures.
“People can easily identify textiles or organic materials and pick them up without even thinking, right? But a plastic bag versus a rotten fruit versus a T-shirt—each requires a different kind of dexterity. We still don’t have a robot that can actually do all of that in one go. It is such a complex problem.”
