The Doctor Will See You Now

We see machines that can do almost everything, physically and mentally, that a human can do. But with none of the sick days or bad attitudes that characterize our race.

Friday, February 20^th, 2026

Bill Bonner, from Poitou, France

‘The idea that the Chinese lack creativity is a comforting superstition, cherished chiefly by those whose last original idea was to install a second refrigerator in the garage.’

--Suggested to us by ChatGPT

In the west, we more attempts to control the economy, The People, the news and the ‘narrative.’ The latest count shows federal, state, and local government spending at 40% of GDP. So, they’ve got a lot to control it with. Reuters:

Trump adviser Hassett suggests New York Fed researchers be punished for tariffs argument

Kevin Hassett, a top economic adviser to President Donald Trump, on Wednesday said those behind a New York Federal Reserve research paper that argued the costs of tariffs are borne mostly by Americans should be punished for what he described as shoddy scholarship.

In the east, or at least in China, the citizens have less democracy than we have. BBC from 2018:

China’s Xi allowed to remain ‘president for life’ as term limits removed

But they have no military bases scattered throughout the planet. China does not blow up fishing boats. It does not kidnap foreign leaders. It has never invaded another country, nor even threatened to do so.

The US, by contrast, has some 700 bases outside the homeland. It bombs, threatens or intervenes somewhere almost every day. And at home, the US has 541 people in jail for every 100,000 loose on the streets. In China, only 119 are in jail/100k. Either the Chinese are more law abiding, or Americans are putting their fellow countrymen behind bars at four times the Chinese rate for no good reason.

And while the west seems to be in decline, the east seems to rise. China marked the beginning of the New Year with a fantastic spectacle in Beijing...watched by more people than any previous show. It unveiled a ‘new generation’ of robots.

And these were no ordinary sci-fi robots, shuffling along stiffly like a superannuated senator. On display were 25 human-sized machines that walked, ran, jumped, performed kung-fun stunts — all in perfectly choreographed precision. Breakdancing...back flipping — it was amazing what these robots could do.

And their manufacturer Unitree says it will produce 20,000 of them this year. Interesting Engineering:

Unitree’s WuBot robot performed the martial arts sequence at the event. The H1 robots came next, performing table-vaulting parkour, 3-meter aerial flips, and single-leg flips.

The robots also showcased an air flare grand spin of seven-and-a-half rotations and other high-difficulty movements, which marked a significant upgrade from the Yangko dance they performed at the 2025 event.

As far as we know, no western country can do anything like this.

The show was so impressive some viewers even doubted it was real. Not even the Chinese could do something like this, they thought.

“I’m deeply suspicious,” wrote one. “It could be AI generated.’

But the performance was said to be live, before real people...and it wasn’t as perfect as you’d expect from an AI-generated fraud. The robots often had to quickly move their feet to keep their balance. AI was used to program the graceful, powerful, coordinated moves, not to deceive the viewers.

And here’s Lin Guoer’s viral YouTube channel (@linguoermechanic) that has nothing to do with AI...but with the energy of the Chinese people. Lin is a young woman from Yunnan Province with an amazing talent for restoring old engines and broken machines. Her channel has two million followers! (In this video, she restores a 100-year-old tractor.)

We haven’t been to China for more than twenty years. We were among the first ‘Europeans’ to visit the planned city of Shenzhen. It was a backwater, with dirt roads, stalled trucks, ragged houses and perhaps 30,000 people.

But even back then, China was racing ahead...with more and faster trains, better highways, more efficient ports. And today, Shenzhen is one of the most modern cities in the world — with 17 million people.

And now...the Chinese are making a great leap forward in the one industry where the US used to be the undisputed lead dog — technology. The South China Morning Post reports:

Chinese scientists hit breakthrough on 2D semiconductor wafers

Chinese researchers have announced a new technique to mass produce 2D material wafers, paving the way for high-performance electronics using a successor to silicon.

As semiconductor chips continue to evolve, transistor sizes are approaching the physical limits of silicon-based technology. The search for next-generation semiconductor materials that can deliver superior performance has become a global priority.

Among the candidates, two-dimensional (2D) materials such as molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) with their atomically thin structure are regarded as promising successors for the post-Moore’s Law era because of their high carrier mobility and low power consumption.

Yes, dear reader, we have presumed that an economy with a large amount of government interference (China…the US) would be a flop. But maybe not. It is also astonishing that China, with hundreds of millions of human workers, would lead the world in replacing them with machines.

As for AI, we pooh-poohed the idea that AI would change the world. Who wants yet more words? More opinions? More analysis? More ideas? More blah blah?

Would AI help us make tastier linguine? Would it turn a goodbye kiss into a life-changing experience? Would it make an annoying neighbor disappear?

But this robot show has lifted the curtain. Behind it, we see machines that can do almost everything, physically and mentally, that a human can do. But with none of the sick days or bad attitudes that characterize our race.

They can easily put truck drivers out of work, of course...and truck loaders, mechanics and package deliverers too. Kateable:

UPS guts 78,000 jobs in largest purge since company’s founding to ‘reduce human labor’

‘Watch out,’ says the homeowner, ‘my dog might bite.’

‘I don’t care’...says the robot.

Sort, tote, hammer...any job that can be routinized can be done by these marvels. 24 hours a day. Seven days a week. And they respond to voice commands.

They can take over the professions too. What does a doctor do? He listens to your complaints. He runs some tests and takes some measures. With an almost infinite well of medical knowledge available to him, the robot in the white coat might be a far superior technician. He might even be programmed to have a nice bedside manner!

And maybe a Chinese accent!

‘You no have cancer. You have indigestion. Take pills. Call in morning,’ he tells you.

Regards,

Bill Bonner