Hundreds of robots are roaming this Chinese theme park. It’s only the beginning of our humanoid future

The Chinese robot manufacturer AgiBot just released more than 300 autonomous robots into a theme park to let them mingle freely with the public. It’s the largest deployment of this kind ever. In fact, this embodied AI invasion dwarfs any other public deployment of robots in China. Nothing in the West gets close to it. These 300 robo-spartans are now roaming the public walkways and hotels of Chimelong Spaceship Park in Zhuhai, on the Pearl River Delta bordering Macau. It’s a fleet made mostly of autonomous humanoid robots, which interact with families with kids in the park’s walkways, not inside fenced attractions. They can play table tennis, perform martial arts demonstrations, guide lost tourists, and check in guests to hotel rooms. [Photo: AgiBot] AgiBot built the fleet with Chimelong Group—a Chinese conglomerate that operates theme parks and luxury hotels—and the telecom company China Mobile. According to AgiBot, these humanoids are now an integral, fundamental part of visitors’ park experience. It’s a preview of a near-future world in which embodied AI becomes part of the human experience, full-time and everywhere, from supermarkets to hospitals. The implications of this human…