You probably have seen the movie I, Robot, where Will Smith is saving the world by fighting robots that outsmarted the human race. You also probably sat way too comfortable on your big couch, thinking these things only happen in movies. Well guess what, they don't. Japan is at the heart of robotic innovation and is building some really intelligent robots as we speak. The East-Asian country is obliged to do this of course, since they failed in taking over the world in the 1980s. Now Japan is determined to run the show with their cyborgs. So it's about time you get off that couch and prepare yourself for world domination by robots. Here are 5 signs that Japanese robots will take over the planet:

1.       They are already everywhere

You might not know it, but Japanese robots already are spread all over the globe. In the industrial sector, robots from Japanese companies are assembling products and filling up the jobs people don't do anymore. The reason why these are primarily Japanese enterprises, is because of their strong domestic market combined with deep long-term financial resources involved in this sector. Only a few non-Japanese companies managed to survive in the robot market. Japan already has more than 250.000 industrial robots and doesn't plan to leave it at that.

      2.       They look like humans

Japanese engineers created robots that are very human-like. If you come across them in your daily walk to the grocery store, you probably won't even notice they are robots. They have the same height, a natural skin-color and the wigs look like real hair. Also, they almost move the same way as we do. Maybe a robot is looking at you right now. Yes, maybe it's that man just in front of you. Japanese companies like Honda or research facilities like the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Sciences (AIST) continue innovating to be able to invent the perfect human robot. Before you know it, you might end up having a relationship with a cyborg, without even noticing it.

3.       They teach themselves

Japanese robots not only look like humans, they also have the ability to teach themselves. With human help, the robot CB² is capable of teaching itself how to walk. CB² has 51 'muscles', driven by airpressure, which it uses to walk around. A more recent created robot, which carries the beautiful name HRP-4C, is feminine and is programmed to catwalk. This of course is a clear sign that these robots are trying to take over the world. Robots with the ability to teach can easily teach themselves how to make mankind abundant, or even worse, destroy it.

      4.       They already beat us in games

Although they didn't beat us yet in life, robots are taking big steps to accomplish that in the future. They can already beat us in games. As early as in the 90s, IBM's 'Deep Blue' defeated the world chess champion Kasparov. More recently humans were defeated in a verbal quiz game by robots. First chess, than language, what's next? Japanese president Abe is planning to create a 'Robot Olympics', which will take place in 2020. Maybe it's a safe development that robots combat eachother. But once they get (artificially) intelligent enough, you don't want to be there when they decide to fight the weaker species: humans.

      5.       They are already fooling us

Maybe you still have this picture in your head where robots obey humans. Well, think twice. Two months ago a chatbot walked into the Royal Society, a scientific academy in Londen. He convinced the judges there that he was a 13-year-old boy from the Ukraine. I have to admit that he got his orders from humans. But once they know they can fool us, you and I both know they will be able to make these desicions themselves. The Japanese SoftBank Cooperation invented a robot that can not only communicate, but also read people's emotions. If they know us, they can fool us.

If you still aren't convinced that Japan is trying to dominate the world through its robots, you might consider president Abe's plans. Nearly two months ago he announced that robotics will be one of the country's most important economic pillars. Abe is planning to triple the size of the Japanese robotics industry. These are big words, given the fact that Japan is the third biggest economy in the world. With their awesome robots, Japan could obtain huge advantages in the struggle for power in the international arena. They can use it for absolute world domination, that is, if the Japanese robots won't already decide to do this themselves...

Sources used: The Japan Times, University of Cambridge, Wikipedia, YouTube, ExtremTech.com, Cnet.