Futurist Jim Carroll<p>Megatrend **#29** - The Arrival of the Humanoid Robots: "A decade of progress in a year; the humanoid robot era is here, and it's accelerating with astonishing speed and breathtaking developments." - Futurist Jim Carroll</p><p>The humanoid robot industry is accelerating due to a convergence of advanced AI, collapsing hardware costs, and massive new investment.</p><p>This is moving humanoids from science fiction to industrial reality, with deployments scaling in factories to address global labor shortages. The next wave will expand into healthcare and elder care, bringing the long-term vision of domestic assistance closer to reality.</p><p>What does it mean? Well, for one thing, my family keeps telling me that I'll need to have some sort of hobby when I eventually retire. So I've settled on the idea that within 5 years, I'll probably have a humanoid robot in the house that I can train and work with. I've been telling the guys on the golf course that I'll be showing up with my robot caddy at some point - it will carry my bag, and perhaps offer up some golf advice.</p><p>I made a short little video imagining this.</p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5ErU70RdqY" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">youtube.com/watch?v=Q5ErU70Rdq</span><span class="invisible">Y</span></a></p><p>Most of them were not amused. My wife, in particular, is not excited by the idea and has registered an emphatic NO. I can see this is going to take some work.</p><p>That said, the cost for these fascinating little devices is fast approaching the PC-cost collapse curve, with the Chinese-made Unitree R1 now available for $5,900 US. Give it a few years, and you'll be able to grab one for $999.</p><p>We stand at a historic inflection point in humanoid robotics, driven by the powerful convergence of exponential AI advances, unprecedented capital investment, revolutionary training technologies, and rapidly falling hardware costs—all unfolding within a distinct geopolitical landscape that will shape the future of work.</p><p>There's a full PDF right here if you want to dig in further.</p><p><a href="https://pdf.jimcarroll.com/Megatrend29-HumanoidRobots.pdf" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">pdf.jimcarroll.com/Megatrend29</span><span class="invisible">-HumanoidRobots.pdf</span></a></p><p>All of this means that what we thought was far away is suddenly... at our doorstep.</p><p>**<a href="https://mastodon.futurist.info/tags/Humanoid" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Humanoid</span></a>** **<a href="https://mastodon.futurist.info/tags/Robots" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Robots</span></a>** **<a href="https://mastodon.futurist.info/tags/AI" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>AI</span></a>** **<a href="https://mastodon.futurist.info/tags/Automation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Automation</span></a>** **<a href="https://mastodon.futurist.info/tags/Technology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Technology</span></a>** **<a href="https://mastodon.futurist.info/tags/Innovation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Innovation</span></a>** **<a href="https://mastodon.futurist.info/tags/Manufacturing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Manufacturing</span></a>** **<a href="https://mastodon.futurist.info/tags/Healthcare" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Healthcare</span></a>** **<a href="https://mastodon.futurist.info/tags/Future" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Future</span></a>** **<a href="https://mastodon.futurist.info/tags/Workforce" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Workforce</span></a>**</p><p>Original post: <a href="https://jimcarroll.com/2025/08/decoding-tomorrow-30-megatrends-29-the-arrival-of-the-humanoid-robot-a-decade-of-progress-in-a-year-the-humanoid-robot-era-is-here-and-its-accelerating-with-astonishing-speed-and-breathtak/" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">jimcarroll.com/2025/08/decodin</span><span class="invisible">g-tomorrow-30-megatrends-29-the-arrival-of-the-humanoid-robot-a-decade-of-progress-in-a-year-the-humanoid-robot-era-is-here-and-its-accelerating-with-astonishing-speed-and-breathtak/</span></a></p>