Humanoid Robots: Should We Be Afraid?

In China, humanoid robots fight kung fu, dance choreographies and perform flips.

In some cities they walk on patrol alongside the police in pilot trials.

In the USA, Elon Musk’s company Tesla is working on humanoid robots meant to take over everyday tasks at low cost.

Many people, hearing such news, think of films and dystopias in which robots rule over humans.

Should we be afraid?

What is emerging now

China and the USA are pushing humanoid robots forward at high speed.

At the Chinese company Unitree, robots impress with spectacular movements.

At the 2026 Spring Festival Gala, G1 and H models showed autonomous combat choreographies, flips, parkour and synchronous formations.

In August 2026 the second World Humanoid Robot Games took place in Beijing, a multi-day competition with over 2,000 robots from 16 countries. In some disciplines robots beat human records. One robot ran about 100 metres in 8.64 seconds, faster than Usain Bolt’s 9.58 seconds.

Tesla takes a different approach with its Optimus model.

The engineers are developing robot hands with many degrees of freedom and fine sensors.

Together with a learning AI, these are meant one day to become robots that can cook, clean and handle tools.

Technology without mind

Shrii P. R. Sarkar was once asked about the destructive effect of atom bombs. His answer also applies to robots.

Human power is far more powerful than the power of atom bombs.

Whatever a human being manufactures contains only physical force; it possesses no psychic force. Atom bombs have nothing that could be called mind.

An atom bomb, he says in essence, is crude physical force without mind. Humans created it. That is why humans can also contain it and find countermeasures. The physical force of a machine can surpass ours. The mental force of the creator remains stronger.

Sarkar even hints that humans might one day manufacture something that possesses a mind. Even then, that mind would remain weaker than that of the human creator. For humans can do something machines cannot: through spiritual practices come into contact with their soul.

The force of spirituality is subtler and stronger than anything humans can ever invent.

For this reason, humans will always remain superior to machines.

What we should really fear

Sarkar voiced a warning in which he named the real danger:

There is only one thing humans must fear: those who are inhuman beings in human form, who possess immense psychic force and yet act like inhuman beings and harm humanity.

Unethical people with great mental force and power can cause great harm. Likewise, ethical people with great force can do much good.

Technology is always only the tool.

A humanoid robot in the hands of ethical leadership can ease hard labour, support care work and relieve people of dull routine. The same robot under exploitation, war planning or surveillance deepens injustice.

So we need ethical and capable leadership: people firmly rooted in principles such as truthfulness, non-harming and selflessness, who put the common good above power and profit.

Fear or responsibility?

Fear of robots is often misplaced. Fear of uncontrolled power, of hidden remote control, of unemployment without social security and of weapon capability is justified and calls for clear rules, transparency and ethical limits.

We can help shape the development: education that sharpens our judgement; an economy that secures people’s purchasing power and dignity; politics that puts technology to work for human well-being.

Then humanoid robots will become good helpers. So the most important question is: Who steers the robots, and with what intention?

I think we need not fear machines. We must stay alert to those who steer them.

Sources

• Shrii P. R. Sarkar: Can Atom Bombs Destroy Human Civilization? in: A Few Problems Solved Part 3, AMP, Kolkata 2020 (1978).
• Live Science, 17 February 2026, Unitree kung fu and flips at the Spring Festival Gala: https://www.livescience.com/technology/robotics/humanoid-robots-show-off-creepily-impressive-kung-fu-moves-during-lunar-new-year-festival-in-china
• Global Times, 16 February 2026, Unitree performance: https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202602/1355439.shtml
• AP, 22 August 2026, World Humanoid Robot Games, 100 metres and standing high jump: https://apnews.com/article/china-humanoid-robot-games-us-86cb8e310843151a77057e4cb764b4e2
• Reuters, 22 August 2026, Tiangong Ultra 9.39 seconds: https://www.reuters.com/sports/chinese-humanoid-robot-lightning-beats-human-100m-world-record-state-media-says-2026-08-22/
• South China Morning Post, 23 August 2026, Unitree in the 100-metre run at 12.41 seconds: https://www.scmp.com/sport/china/article/3364974/ultra-quick-chinese-robots-beat-usain-bolts-100m-world-record-beijing-games
• Sankei, 28 September 2026, Riot robot Fuxi in experimental stage: https://www.sankei.com/article/20260928-7JRJQO5QDNJSROO3GRFX3T6XPY/
• Journal du Net, 24 September 2026, Pilot trials with traffic and patrol robots: https://www.journaldunet.com/intelligence-artificielle/1555257-les-policiers-humanoides-patrouillent-deja-en-chine/
• Electrek, 25 September 2026, Optimus production, hands, supervised factory use (via The Information): https://electrek.co/2026/09/25/tesla-optimus-production-ramp-hands-ai-generalization-problems/