A humanoid robot competing against flesh-and-blood runners broke the world record in a Beijing half marathon on Sunday, showing the rapid technological progress achieved by Chinese manufacturers.
Spectators lined the streets in Yizhuang south of the capital to watch the cars and their human rivals race, each group in a separate lane to avoid accidents or collisions.
Some of the robots were very agile, moving like famous runners like Usain Bolt, while others had more basic skills.
The winning humanoid, equipped with an autonomous navigation system and working for Chinese smartphone maker Honor, completed the 21-kilometer course in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, at an average speed of about 25 kilometers per hour, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
That was much faster than the best man in Sunday’s race, also beating the current men’s world record of 57:20 held by Ugandan runner Jacob Kiplimo.
The result represented a spectacular improvement from last year, when robot runners repeatedly fell and the best took more than two hours and 40 minutes to finish.
The number of humanoid entries rose from about 20 last year to more than 100, according to organizers, a sign of the growing popularity of the sector.
‘very cute’
Han Chenyu, a 25-year-old student watching the race from behind a security barrier, barely had time to pull out her phone and snap a photo of the lead robot as it passed.
She told AFP she was enthusiastic about such strides in technology and thought the event was “very cool”.
But, she added, “as someone who works for a living, sometimes I worry a little bit about that. I feel like technology is advancing so quickly that it can start to affect people’s jobs,” especially with artificial intelligence becoming more and more sophisticated.
Humanoid robots have become a common sight in China in recent years, in the media as well as in public spaces.
Xie Lei, 41, who attended Sunday’s race with his family, said robots could “become part of our daily lives” within a few years, potentially used for “things like housework, accompanying the elderly or basic care” or “dangerous work, even firefighting”.
The Humanoid Half Marathon aims to encourage innovation and popularize the technologies used in the creation and operation of such machines.
In a sign of the industry’s strength, investment in robotics and so-called embodied AI will reach 73.5 billion yuan ($10.8 billion) in China by 2025, according to a study by a government agency.
“For thousands of years, humans have been in charge of planet Earth. But now, look at robots. Just in terms of autonomous navigation, at least in this specific sporting event, they’re already starting to surpass us,” Xie said.
“On the one hand, it makes you feel a little sad for humanity. But at the same time, technology, especially in recent years, has given us so much imagination.”
