How to Know When a Robot Is Done

A robot is usually considered done when it completes a task, reaches a goal, or receives confirmation that it has performed correctly, but this definition is mostly for humans who like clear endings. Robots don’t experience completion that way. They are often shown in motion, mid-effort, still adjusting, still optimising, still trying to improve something that may not need improving at all.

There’s no visible urgency to fix, refine, or correct. It isn’t waiting for feedback, and it isn’t checking whether it did enough. It doesn’t look proud or relieved, just settled, as if nothing more is being asked of it and nothing more is being offered.

To know when a robot is done, you have to look for the moment it stops negotiating with itself. A finished robot doesn’t signal completion; it simply remains. It has stopped trying to justify its presence or usefulness. It isn’t looking for the next instruction, and it isn’t resisting one either. It exists without anticipation. If you can stand in front of it without feeling that something should happen next, without wanting it to move, explain itself, or continue. Then the robot is done.

If you’re curious to see what that looks like in practice, there are more finished robots elsewhere on this site Check out The Next Guy. They’re not doing much. That’s how you can tell.