Robots Struggle to Keep Up on the Football Field
The field wasn’t the only man-made feature at a recent football match. In Beijing, four teams of humanoid robots competed in AI-powered three-a-side games.
While modern football has been criticized for its focus on rigid tactics, the event in China made it clear that AI isn’t ready to replace top players just yet.
Video footage showed the robots struggling to kick the ball or stay balanced, with clumsy falls that would have drawn yellow cards if they were human. At least two robots had to be carried off after failing to get back up.
Cheng Hao, head of Booster Robotics, the company behind the robot players, said sports provide a useful environment to test humanoid technology. While humans and robots may one day compete directly, the recent matches suggest the machines still have a long way to go.
Cheng stated, "In the future, we could organize games between robots and people. But first, we have to ensure the robots are entirely safe."
The competition involved university teams that programmed their own algorithms for the robots. In the final, Tsinghua University’s THU Robotics triumphed over China Agricultural University’s Mountain Sea team with a 5–3 victory.
A Tsinghua supporter praised both teams, saying, "THU played really well, but Mountain Sea also put up a strong fight—they had some impressive moments."
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