Robots outnumbering humans – is it science fiction or our imminent reality? Ya-Qin Zhang, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, believes this is inevitable within a decade.

Should we panic? Not necessarily. Zhang said robots will augment humans, not replace us. However, managing risks is crucial, and the revolution's already here, from zero-emission beach cleaners at the Boao Forum and AI traffic bots at a Hangzhou marathon to smart elder-care robots cooking and monitoring health in Beijing.

Behind these relatively simple tasks are extensive efforts at massive AI learning centers, where over 120 robots are trained across more than 30 real-world scenarios and 3 million data points are collected in just four months.

(Wang Zhixiang contributed to this story. Cover picture by Pei Zihan)