Move over, pervert glasses – the latest toxic trend is robogroping<p>Whenever a new technology is created, it will, without exception, immediately be used to harass girls and women</p><p>You may be familiar with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_34">rule 34</a> of the internet, which states that if something exists or can be imagined, there will almost certainly be online porn of it. Now let me introduce my rule 35: whenever a new technology is created, it will, without exception, immediately be used to harass girls and women.</p><p>See, for example, Meta’s “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/aug/31/law-meta-pervert-glasses-mockery">pervert glasses</a>”. As anyone could have foreseen, putting a tiny camera and microphone into smartglasses would immediately lead to people using them to record and harass women. Lo and behold, that is exactly what happened. So-called manfluencers have <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/09/world/manfluencers-smart-glasses-intl">filmed themselves</a> trying to flirt with women in public spaces and then uploaded the footage to TikTok. The women in these videos are often not aware they’ve been recorded until their identities are shared online and they are <a href="https://www.404media.co/meta-ray-ban-smart-glasses-pov-instagram-pickup-artists/">harassed</a> by strangers. And what’s Meta doing about this? It’s instituted a few bans and made some privacy updates, but doesn’t seem to have an appetite to properly solve the problem. Indeed, at the Meta Connect 2026 keynote, Mark Zuckerberg did <a href="https://www.tomsguide.com/computing/smart-glasses/what-was-missing-from-meta-connect-2026-an-apology">not feel the need</a> to apologize to the women whose lives have been upended by his technology.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/oct/17/smartglasses-robogroping-toxic-trends">Continue reading...</a>
Sheep-herding robot dogs put to the test at the Ekka Royal Queensland show — video<p>The University of the Sunshine Coast student project is trialling the use of robotic dogs to herd sheep, with public demonstrations of the units at the Brisbane Showgrounds. Dr David Alonso-Caneiro, a senior lecturer in mechatronics, says the long-term view is to establish the feasibility of one day using similar machines as fully autonomous tools on farms</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/video/2026/aug/10/sheep-herding-robot-dogs-put-to-the-test-at-the-ekka-royal-queensland-show-video">Continue reading...</a>
China wants to solve the hardest problem in robotics – making hands<p>Race to develop ‘embodied AI’ focuses on creating dextrous hands to transform humanoid robots from gimmicks into useful products</p><p>Human hands – nimble, nerve-filled appendages that are the most flexible part of the human skeleton – are exceptionally complex. Many tasks that most people can do largely without thinking, from tying a pair of shoelaces to buttoning up a shirt, in fact require a complex set of neurological instructions and precise choreography. In thousands of years of human history, no machine has been able to truly replicate human’s greatest tool.</p><p>But now, as artificial intelligence (AI) races forwards, some companies think they are close to surpassing this final but most difficult hurdle in robotics. Most of them are in China.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ng-interactive/2026/jul/06/china-dextrous-robotic-hands-humanoid">Continue reading...</a>
Elon Musk and co may relish march of the robots but there must be AI boundaries in the workplace | Heather Stewart
Elon Musk and co may relish march of the robots but there must be AI boundaries in the workplace | Heather Stewart<p>As such technology advances quickly, firms should not lose sight of what qualities humans bring to jobs</p><p>A robot magician called D4YRL was rejected as a member of the Magic Circle last week, for being insufficiently human.</p><p>While D4YRL’s tricks were exemplary, the august organisation decided “he” did not engage the audience’s emotions as a flesh-and-blood performer would.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jun/14/ai-technology-workplace-boundaries-elon-musk">Continue reading...</a>
K-pop androids and automated artists: welcome to South Korea’s strange and ambitious robot theme park
K-pop androids and automated artists: welcome to South Korea’s strange and ambitious robot theme park<p>Galaxy Robot Park in South Korea hopes to attract tourists to concerts and fashion shows, but can robots ever replicate K-pop’s connection with fans?</p><p>Four child-sized humanoid robots take the stage at an arena in eastern Seoul, and as the opening beats of a song by K-pop star G-Dragon begin, they start to dance.</p><p>Arms swinging, legs stepping in sync, heads bobbing, wigs and baggy clothes swishing, until – mid-performance – one of them seemingly malfunctions and has to be removed from the stage.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/may/25/galaxy-robot-park-in-seoul-south-korea-world-first">Continue reading...</a>
‘System malfunction’ causes robotaxis to stall in the middle of the road in China
Distressed riders who were stranded for hours say Apollo Go customer service agents offered ‘useless platitudes’
A “system malfunction” has caused several self-driving robotaxis to stall in the middle of the road in China, police have confirmed, after distressed riders were stranded for hours.
Local authorities in the central Chinese city of Wuhan said they began receiving calls “one after another” on Tuesday night from riders reporting that autonomous vehicles operated by the Chinese internet company Baidu had frozen.
Continue reading...New York governor pulls robotaxi expansion proposal for cities outside Big Apple
Kathy Hochul backed away from allowing robotaxi services in smaller cities, though Waymo still plans to move ahead in New York City
New York’s governor, Kathy Hochul, has pulled her proposal to allow commercial robotaxi services in smaller cities outside New York City, a spokesperson for the governor said on Thursday.
“Based on conversations with stakeholders, including in the legislature, it was clear that the support was not there to advance this proposal,” the spokesperson said.
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