In a video published this week by China’s UBTech, hundreds of the firm’s humanoid robots march in unison, lining up neatly or stomping in rhythm, as they pack themselves into delivery trucks. The company claims it has made its first mass shipments of the robots to customers, something rival robot-makers like Tesla and Figure are yet to do.

Comments on the video are the usual mix of doom and awe. The robots are coming to take our jobs. They look like a robot military force. Imagine if they had weapons. But for the more sceptical viewer, many questions are raised.

Is synchronised mass marching a feature of the robots, or is it just for show? Are they as off-balance as they look? Why not show footage of them performing work tasks? Why put robots in workspaces designed for humans at all? H

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