Stop forcing humanoids: Why functional design wins in robotics

I’ve been seeing a lot of hype lately around humanoid robots, but I have to say, I’m part of the crowd that actually wants robots to look like... well, robots.

Don't get me wrong, the engineering behind bipedal movement is impressive, but I feel like the industry is obsessed with making them look "human" for no specific reason. We keep seeing these uncanny, human-like faces and limbs, but is that actually necessary for utility?

In my opinion, pushing for hyper-realistic humanoids might actually lead to cognitive dissonance for users. When a machine looks too much like a person but acts like a machine, it creates that "uncanny valley" feeling where something just feels slightly off. Instead of trying to mimic our anatomy, why not lean into specialized, non-humanoid designs that are optimized for specific tasks? A robot with wheels or treads and multi-purpose arms is far more efficient than a metal person trying to walk on two legs.

I’d love to see more focus on functional aesthetics. Let's build tools that excel at their jobs rather than just trying to build a synthetic replacement for a human being. What do you guys think? Are we over-engineering the "human" aspect?