Photo by Richard Bell on Unsplash
Rodney Brooks has spent decades building robots. He helped create the Roomba and led robotics research at MIT. So, when he says you probably shouldn’t get within three meters (about 10 feet) of a walking humanoid robot, it’s worth paying attention.
In a recent blog post titled “Why Today’s Humanoids Won’t Learn Dexterity,” Brooks breaks down some serious safety and technical problems plaguing the new wave of humanoid robots — the kind being pushed by big players like Tesla and Figure.
Let’s talk about why he’s wary, and what it means for the future of robots.
“Don’t Stand So Close to Me”
First off, walking humanoid robots aren’t as safe as they look in the sleek demo videos.
Brooks’ biggest concern? Kinetic energy.
Today’s full-size humanoids stay balanced using systems that inject massive amounts of power through electric motors at the slightest wobble. That helps them stay upright… until it doesn’t.
If one of these robots falls or swings its arm too close to you — and remember, these things are big and heavy — the results can be extremely dangerous.
Brooks knows this firsthand. He recounts a time when he stood too close to a walking prototype from Agility Robotics and saw it fall unexpectedly. Ever since, he’s kept his distance.
Even in company promo videos, he points out, humans are rarely shown near walking robots — and when they are, there’s usually a desk or sofa in the way.
Photo by Sufyan on Unsplash
The physics are pretty brutal. If you double a robot’s size, Brooks explains, its mass goes up eight times. So when it falls, the impact force multiplies — fast. A falling robotic leg isn’t just awkward, it’s potentially hazardous.
The Dexterity Illusion
Beyond safety concerns, Brooks takes aim at the belief that today’s humanoids will soon mimic human dexterity — you know, folding laundry, flipping pancakes, picking up random objects from the floor.
Companies like Tesla and Figure are betting big on “vision-only” training. Their teams wear camera rigs to record themselves doing everyday tasks. Then, AI models learn from those videos to mimic the motions.
It sounds impressive. But Brooks says it skips a key ingredient: the sense of touch.
He points to research that shows how essential tactile sensing is to human dexterity. When our fingertips are numbed, even simple tasks like lighting a match become clumsy and slow. That’s because each human fingertip has around 1,000 mechanoreceptors — sensors that let us feel pressure, movement, stretch, and more.
Current robot hands have none of that. They’re like trying to do delicate surgery with oven mitts on.
Why Robots with Feet May Not Be the Future
It turns out, perhaps what’s most “humanoid” about these robots — the two-legged walking — is part of the problem.
The balance systems most walking robots use today (especially the well-known “zero moment point” algorithm) weren’t built with human safety in mind. They keep robots upright, yes, but at the cost of pumping in lots of power — and making them more dangerous if things go wrong.
That’s a major issue when you consider where we want robots to work: hospitals, warehouses, even homes. Places where people walk around all the time. Certifying humanoid robots for use in these kinds of mixed environments is next to impossible under current safety standards.
Photo by Ticka Kao on Unsplash
What the Future Might Actually Look Like
Brooks doesn’t think useful humanoid robots are a pipe dream — just that they won’t resemble what’s being built today.
In 15 years, he predicts, we’ll see robots that might still be called “humanoids,” but they won’t walk like people.
- They’ll have wheels instead of legs
- They’ll come in odd shapes and sizes
- Sensors might be in their hands, not their heads
- They won’t try to look or move like humans, because it’s not efficient
Much like how “flying cars” turned into electric helicopters, the name might stay the same while the form changes completely.
Meanwhile, more grounded research — like MIT’s work using sensor-equipped gloves to give robots touch feedback — may move us closer to real robot dexterity. But even that is years away from replicating the complexity of human touch.
Until Then, Keep Your Distance
Right now, not many people find themselves face to face with a humanoid robot. But if you ever do, Brooks has one bit of practical advice: stay back at least 3 meters.
For all the hype around AI-powered robot workers, we’re still a long way from having machines that can safely and fluidly move through human spaces. They’re fascinating machines to watch from afar — just make sure it really is from afar.
Photo by Dawid Matyszczyk on Unsplash
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