Screenshot 2026-09-24 at 11-21-07 Courriel - claude champagne - Outlook

AI humanoid robot soldiers are a thing. The future as predicted by Terminator is here. Japan announced plans to "explore" the use of these bots for defense only, they say. Sure. AI "can be an effective tool to replace or complement operations undertaken by a limited number of personnel," a senior Defense Ministry official said. Do you catch the placating words? Just for defense and only at a small scale. The government has said that these robots would not be able to operate lethal weapons without human involvement. Officials claim to currently oppose putting the humanoids into direct combat. This comes as tensions between Japan and China escalate over Taiwan. Japan has doubled defense spending to approximately 2 percent of its GDP and is reportedly investing in long-range missiles, combat drones, AI and counterstrike capabilities. Its latest Defense White Paper calls China the country’s greatest strategic challenge. But China has humanoid robots too! They showed them off at the World Humanoid Robot Games in China in August. The bots reportedly drew the attention of the People’s Liberation Army, which called for researchers to accelerate research into military bot combatants. So are we heading into the era of bot warfare? And what happens to human beings when machines take the battlefield? My guess is that we won’t be watching safely from the sidelines while the robots fight it out.