Are the Boston Dynamics robots really dancing? The creepy video, explained

It's one thing to have your cabbage patch or running man shown up by Zoomers on TikTok, but it's another level of embarrassment to have a robot out dance you. That's exactly what Boston Dynamics' cohort of robots -- including its dog Spot and more human-like bot Atlas -- did in a video that resurfaced on Twitter this weekend. Swaying to the tune of the 1962 classic "Do You Love Me?" by the Contours, the robotic dance team inspired awe, disbelief, and dread in users. But while online lamenting over the robot apocalypse is nearly always tongue-in-cheek, the engineering achievement lurking behind Spot's dance moves means this reality could be much closer and darker than we realize. It is difficult to believe your eyes when you watch the Boston Dynamics robots bust a move -- albeit jerkily -- in the December 2020 video that made new Twitter rounds this weekend.