What can modern robots do that would have seemed impossible 20 years ago?

The answer

Modern robotics has achieved remarkable milestones: Boston Dynamics' Atlas performs parkour and backflips; the da Vinci surgical system enables operations through incisions smaller than a centimeter; warehouse robots at Amazon move 600 million packages per year; and humanoid robots like Tesla's Optimus aim to handle unstructured household tasks. The key breakthrough has been combining advanced AI perception with improved actuators and sensors. However, seemingly simple tasks like folding laundry or loading a dishwasher remain enormously challenging due to the 'Moravec paradox' - what's easy for humans is hardest for robots, and vice versa.