The rise of humanoid robots threatens political disruption
Our delighted faith in automatons raises the question of how they will integrate into human society
Add BT as a preferred source
FOR more than half a century, the International Robot Exhibition (iREX) has served visitors an exquisitely balanced cocktail of pragmatism and prophecy. The missing component, all of a sudden, is politics.
The biennial trade show, held since 1974 in perennially robot-fixated Japan, is first and foremost a showcase of industrial automation – the no-nonsense factory and farm machines that have steadily proliferated.
Globally, according to the International Federation of Robotics, companies installed well over half a million of these in 2024; 54 per cent in China, which has, non-coincidentally, spent more than a decade as the world’s biggest producer of industrial robots.
TRENDING NOW
Malaysian tycoon Vincent Tan’s sell-downs point to pruning rather than an exit plan
Simba ordered to pay S$700,000 in damages to indoor skydiving operator Altitude Xperience for trespass
What’s wrong with Orchard Road? Experts weigh in on the street’s cachet and its future
As luxury retail goes big, can Singapore’s Orchard Road keep up?
