Robots protest rampant AI in Poland

n n

Humanoid and quadruped robots are seen during a demonstration calling for the regulation of artificial intelligence development in Warsaw on September 7, 2026. Waving flags, “chanting” slogans, and marching in circles — around thirty robots took to the streets to raise awareness for AI regulation in front of the digital affairs ministry on September 7, 2026. (Photo by Sergei GAPON / AFP)

n

Waving flags, “chanting” slogans, and marching in circles: around 30 robots took to the streets of Warsaw on Monday to campaign for AI regulation in front of the Polish digital affairs ministry.

n

The protest was organised by Democratism, an initiative that, according to its website, aims to launch debate “on how AI and robotisation affect the labour market”.

n

“The robots present here are meant to show that this technology is already a reality,” Agibot A3, one of the AI-powered humanoid robots, told AFP.

n

Chants of: “Defend workplaces”, “Time for rules”, and “Don’t wait, regulate” played on loudspeakers as the robots — which ranged from bipedal humanoids to dog-like quadripeds — demonstrated.

n

“We particularly want to address the issue of the potential replacement of people both by humanoid robots and by artificial intelligence in cognitive work,” organiser Grzegorz Kulis told AFP.

n

“If we don’t react now, we may soon have a problem,” he added, emphasising the need for “rules and regulations that would serve as a shield protecting workers”.

n

Aside from attracting the attention of several passers-by, Kulis said the use of robots was meant to show their existing capabilities and thereby, the urgency of the situation.

n

“These robots can already move around freely, they’re already ‘protesting'”, he said.

n

The marching robots were met with a visit from Poland’s Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski, who spoke to Kulis on site.

n

“Uncontrolled (AI) models, implemented into humanoids that will also keep evolving as robotisation moves forward, are a major problem,” he said.

n

Kulis, who is now the CIO of a robotics company and CEO of an employment agency, served two terms on the Labor Market Council at the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy.

n

“We feel responsible for starting to inform society about the rapid and dynamic technological changes which personally frighten us,” he told AFP.

n

In July, Poland’s conservative-nationalist president Karol Nawrocki signed into law a bill put forth by the ministry putting the EU’s AI Act into practice.

n

It created a national authority capable of enforcing existing EU regulations, which had already formally come into force.

n n