Shook hands with a humanoid robot this week

Shook hands with a humanoid robot this week. Actual handshake, actual grip, standing on a university campus.

Still feels like a novelty right now, but watching how hard Tesla and Figure are racing toward this, I don't think it stays a novelty much longer.

The question I keep circling is who actually gets to affordable first, something that leaves the demo stage and ends up in a normal home or factory. And what it's for once people stop filming it just because it's a robot.

My guess is manufacturing gets there first. It's repetitive physical work and a lot of it is already half automated, so the handoff is easier than most.

What I can't stop thinking about is further out though, in companionship and elder care, something living in someone's home instead of on a factory floor. That one's harder, but it's the one I find myself most curious about.

Five years ago that handshake wasn't happening at all. I wonder what my grandfather, who lived to 100, would have made of it.