Most people think robots still live in labs. That idea is already outdated.
The future of robotics is closer and more disruptive than you think Most people think robots still live in labs. That idea is already outdated. Robotics has quietly crossed a threshold. Not the flashy kind you see in movies, but the kind that changes industries before anyone notices. Over the past decade, something fundamental shifted. Machines stopped being experiments and started becoming infrastructure. This article is part of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting. Autonomous systems now operate in ports, warehouses, hospitals, and factories. They move goods, assist in diagnostics, and even interact with humans in limited ways. According to experts at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2026 in Davos, the most difficult breakthroughs are no longer ahead of us. They are behind us. That claim sounds bold. Maybe even premature. But once you look at the data and the trajectory, it starts to make sense. The breakthroughs that quietly changed everything For years, robotics struggled...