This course builds on ITCILO’s broader work on emerging and foundational technologies and their implications for decent work and social justice. Over recent years, ITCILO has been exploring how technologies such as artificial intelligence, neurotechnology, quantum technologies, biotechnologies and AI-powered robots are reshaping work, learning, and capacity development, through action research, digital briefs, and a dedicated webinar series on the nexus between technology and decent work. Within this broader reflection, humanoid and semi-humanoid robots represent a critical next step: a convergence of AI, embodiment, and human interaction with direct implications for work and learning. The course draws on this ongoing work and on ITCILO’s recent research on the compounding impact of AI and robotics, providing participants with a unique, human-centred UN perspective on how humanoid robots can be understood, critically assessed, and responsibly harnessed in support of social justice and sustainable development

Through a combination of interactive webinars, curated readings, and short self-paced learning, this course explores AI-powered robots as a foundational and emerging technology shaping the future of work and learning.

Participants will gain:

• A clear, non-technical understanding of humanoid and semi-humanoid robots, including the basic components of robotic systems (hardware, software, sensors, and AI) and how robots function as physical / embodied AI within the broader AI ecosystem.
• An overview of different types of humanoid/semi humanoid robots, including use cases of humanoid and semi-humanoid robots across industrial, service, domestic and care settings and how they are already being used in real-world work and learning environments.
• A human-centred, UN/ILO-informed perspective on emerging technologies, exploring how humanoid and semi-humanoid robots can be understood, critically assessed, and harnessed in support of social justice, decent work, and sustainable development, in line with the 2030 Agenda.
• Insights into human–machine collaboration and its ethical and social implications, examining how humanoid robots are reshaping work and learning, augmenting human roles in contexts such as labour shortages and the care economy, besides also raising critical questions related to ethics, human rights, power, and dignity at work.
• Concrete global use cases from different regions, highlighting how humanoid and semi-humanoid robots are being applied across sectors such as manufacturing, logistics, services, and the care economy.

By the end of the course, participants will be equipped to engage more confidently in informed discussions about humanoid and semi-humanoid robots and the future of work, understand both opportunities and risks, and contribute to forward-looking reflections on how emerging technologies can be shaped, not just adopted, in a responsible and inclusive way.

This course is designed for:

• Policymakers and public officials
• Researchers interested in the future of work and learning
• Undergraduate and post-graduate students in fields aligned with technology and its social impact
• Project officers and practitioners
• Workers and professionals involved in technological change
• Innovation experts
• Individuals seeking a society-oriented understanding of humanoid and semi-humanoid robots

No specific technical background on AI-powered robots is required.

AGENDA

Week 1: Understanding Humanoid Robots and Human–Machine collaboration

• From AI to Humanoid Robots: why they matter now
• Human–Machine Collaboration in practice: use cases and sectoral applications

Week 2: Ethics, global perspectives and the future of work

• Ethics, Human Rights and Decent Work
• Robotics and the future of work

Speakers will include experts from the United Nations system and the ILO, leading scholars from internationally recognised universities, representatives from companies already developing and working with humanoid and AI-powered robots across different continents, as well as keynote speakers and internationally renowned authors in the field. Among others:

• Dado Van Peteghem, International Keynote Speaker: AI and Robotics www.dadovanpeteghem.com 
• Zhiqiang Liu, CEO at Digit International Co. https://www.linkedin.com/in/zhiqiang-liu-498a85b/?originalSubdomain=cn
• Santiago Pavon, Business Development & Growth Lead at Pollen Robotics (Hugging Face)https://www.pollen-robotics.com/ https://huggingface.co/
• Paolo Denti, CEO at Oversonic https://www.oversonicrobotics.com/who-we-are/