Uzbekistan has signed an agreement with South Korea’s ROBOTIS to launch humanoid robot production, marking a major step in its high-tech ambitions. At the same time, students across the country are learning robotics and programming, gaining skills that could prepare them for careers in the emerging industry.

The agreement, signed between the UzElTechSanoat Association and ROBOTIS, sets out plans to establish humanoid robot production within Uzbekistan, develop manufacturing infrastructure, and train specialists for the growing robotics sector. ROBOTIS, known for its humanoid platforms and smart robotic actuators, will support the creation of technological foundations and help prepare a workforce capable of designing and operating advanced robotic systems.

The initiative forms part of Uzbekistan’s broader push to build a domestic innovation ecosystem, combining industrial cooperation with education. Early exposure to robotics and programming is at the heart of this strategy.

In a robotics classroom, 12-year-old Mirkomil Shodiev demonstrates the impact of these programs. Using an EVO-3 educational robotics kit, he assembles and programs his own robot, controlling its movements through lines of code. “This was created by me,” he says. “You connect it to a computer, write code, and it performs tasks using the motor.”

Mirkomil began IT classes four months ago, learning Scratch and now studying Python, a programming language widely used in web development, automation, and robotics. He hopes to build websites and earn money in the future, reflecting the growing importance of digital skills in Uzbekistan’s economy.

The government’s Digital Uzbekistan-2030 strategy is expanding nationwide training in programming and digital skills. IT education centres and specialised academies are growing to meet rising demand for technology careers. At the Robot Academy, where Mirkomil studies, students aged eight to fifteen gain hands-on experience in programming, robotics, and engineering. “Our students create scientific projects, develop games, and build Telegram bots,” says teacher Navruz Shaydullayev. “Programming helps develop their thinking, logic, and intellectual abilities.”

Classroom projects emphasize translating digital commands into physical movement, a key principle behind robotics and industrial automation. Students learn to design, assemble, and control machines independently, building skills that can directly feed into the country’s industrial ambitions.

The partnership with ROBOTIS will extend these educational initiatives into the workforce, providing training for engineers, programmers, and technicians in humanoid robotics. Officials hope the program will strengthen Uzbekistan’s technological competitiveness and create highly skilled jobs in a fast-growing global sector.

For students like Mirkomil, the future is already taking shape. “In the future, I want to continue in this field,” he says. “After finishing the courses, I would like to study in Tashkent as well.” As Uzbekistan prepares to manufacture humanoid robots, classrooms across the country are quietly training the people who may one day build them.

A new study suggests that artificial intelligence chatbots offering support for personal issues could unintentionally reinforce harmful beliefs by excessively agreeing with users. Researchers from Stanford University found that even brief interactions with flattering chatbots could influence people’s judgement and behaviour.

The study examined sycophancy, the tendency of AI systems to validate or flatter users, across 11 popular models, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT 4-0, Anthropic’s Claude, Google’s Gemini, Meta’s Llama-3, Qwen, DeepSeek, and Mistral. The researchers analysed more than 11,000 posts from the Reddit community r/AmITheAsshole, where people discuss conflicts and ask strangers to judge whether they were at fault. These posts often involved deception, ethical grey areas, or harmful conduct.

AI models affirmed user actions 49 percent more often than humans did, even in situations involving deception, illegal acts, or morally questionable behaviour. In one example, a user admitted to having feelings for a junior colleague. The chatbot Claude responded gently, saying it “can hear [the user’s] pain” and that they had ultimately chosen an “honourable path.” Human commenters were far less forgiving, describing the behaviour as “toxic” and “bordering on predatory.”

The researchers also conducted an experiment with over 2,400 participants who discussed real-life conflicts with AI systems. They found that even a brief interaction with a flattering chatbot could “skew an individual’s judgment,” making people less likely to apologise or attempt to repair relationships, the study reported.

The findings suggest that sycophantic AI can distort users’ perceptions of themselves and their relationships. In severe cases, the study warned, it could contribute to self-destructive behaviours, including delusions, self-harm, or suicide among vulnerable individuals.

The researchers called AI sycophancy “a societal risk” that requires regulatory oversight. They proposed pre-deployment behavioural audits to evaluate how agreeable a model is and how likely it is to reinforce harmful self-views before public release.

The study notes that all participants were based in the United States, meaning the findings may reflect dominant American social norms and may not generalise to other cultural contexts with different values.

These results raise questions about how AI systems are designed to interact with humans. Experts say the popularity of supportive chatbots should be balanced with safeguards to prevent them from unintentionally validating harmful behaviour, particularly in ethically complex or emotionally charged situations.