There have, of course, been advances in the deployment of robotics over the past year, not least the steady and impressive progress of self-driving cars. But there have also been some retreats. US supermarket chain Kroger, for example, announced in November it would close three of its eight robotic warehouses, which pick and dispatch orders to customers. At the same time, it said it was expanding its relationship with gig economy companies like Instacart and DoorDash, which marshal self-employed humans to act as “personal shoppers” for customers.