--- title: "This Robot Trying to Dance Like Michael Jackson But Wiping Out Pathetically in Front of a Crowd Perfectly Illustrates a Deep-Seated Problem in the Sector" description: "A robot dancing to Michael Jackson wiped out badly — illustrating the smoke and mirrors of many humanoid robot demos." date: "2026-05-20" modified: "2026-05-20" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/robots-and-machines/robot-michael-jackson-wiping-out-illustrates-industry-problem" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Robotics" - "Robots and Machines" --- # This Robot Trying to Dance Like Michael Jackson But Wiping Out Pathetically in Front of a Crowd Perfectly Illustrates a Deep-Seated Problem in the Sector ![A sequence of three images shows a humanoid robot performing on stage. In the first image, the robot is standing on one leg with its arms extended, appearing to dance. In the second image, the robot is falling backward onto the stage steps. In the third image, a person in a white shirt is carrying the robot away.]() *Future Era* An amazing video has been making the rounds today. It shows a humanoid robot strides out in front of a crowd, busting moves to Michael Jackson's 1983 smash hit "Billie Jean." It starts out impressive enough, with the bot pulling off some deft footwork — but trouble starts when it boogies straight into a large step on the stage, sending it stumbling with jerky, inhuman movements. It almost seems as though the bot is going to recover as it regains its footing and segues into a passable moonwalk, one of Jackson's most iconic moves. But then it strides back into that dastardly step *again*, this time wiping out so badly that it crumbles into a lifeless heap as a human technician emerges to drag its inert body off stage. https://twitter.com/tatumturnup/status/2056890084822290719 The video — which the [*Daily Mail* sleuthed out]() was at an event at a "robot store" called Future Era in Shenzhen, China — inspired predictable online waves of jokes, derision, and pathos. But it's also a perfect illustration of the core problem with almost all humanoid robotics demos you see online. Though the clips give the *impression* that the bots are making incredible strides at pulling off complex moves in dynamic spaces — remember [that video]() a few months back that showed robots tearing up a stage as backup dancers? — the reality is that what we're typically seeing is a carefully pre-programmed routine. In other words, everything goes great in these types of demos until the moment something unexpected happens, like the robot in today's viral video tripping on the step. That's all well and good if your goal is to wow an audience, but it shows how far we have to go before robots can do anything practical. Vacuuming or washing dishes seem like simple tasks, but the infinite variables in a messy kitchen or living room all represent unexpected hazards ready to trip up an unprepared robot servant. Probably the best illustration of the level at which humanoid robots are *really* operating is a counterpoint viral sensation this week: the robotics company [Figure livestreaming]() one of its own humanoid robots sorting packages on a conveyer belt. It's a constrained domain — everything is a package, the bot doesn't need any fancy footwork, et cetera — but it's still surprisingly clunky, only barely edging out a human intern who competed against it (and who, you might argue, had an incentive to lose to make the company's tech look more impressive.) So consume viral humanoid robot content with skepticism. Robots doing acrobatic tricks and slick dance moves are headline-grabbing, but the tech won't really be world-changing until they can easily do household chores in chaotic environments without messing them up. **More on humanoid robots:** *[This Robot With a Working Human Face Is Incredibly Unsettling]()* ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()