For all the complaints I have about social media, with its ceaseless extrusion of trash into cultural and political spaces, I have to admit that when the algorithm gets something right, it really gets it right. And in my case one thing it has been getting very right in recent months is making sure that I see as many videos as possible in which robots malfunction in absurd and comical ways.

The more that humanoid robots have started to appear in consumer spaces – acting as novelty servers in restaurants, demonstrating dance moves at technology expos – the more such videos have started to appear on social media. Practically every time I look at Instagram, a new one is presented to me for my enjoyment. A disproportionate number of these videos seem to come from China, presumably because this technology is being publicly tested and showcased in China earlier and at a wider scale than elsewhere.

At a technology show in Shenzhen, a robot shimmies on to a stage to the shuffling bass intro of Billie Jean, doing a plausible if basic rendition of some Michael Jackson-style dance moves. Then it attempts to mount a couple of steps to a raised level of the stage; it falls forward headfirst, and briefly sets itself to rights, running on the spot in a sort of skittering cartoon-character mode, before doing a few decent moonwalk-based moves. But then, with a burst of apparently renewed confidence, it attempts the stairs once again, at which point it comes severely a cropper, and lies for what seems a very long time face down and motionless in the spotlight until a handler appears from stage right to the propulsive funk-pop soundtrack of Billie........

© The Irish Times