We live in a world where technology advances at an unfathomable pace. A world where humans are being replaced by robots capable of performing simple tasks at an incredibly faster speed with great precision is already upon us with automated arms in factory lines and smart machinery in manufacturing. The natural question is, “What’s next?”

The KUKA robot group answered by reprogramming one of their industrial robot arms to challenge German table tennis player Timo Boll, then ranked fifth in the world, in an exhibition match.

Released about four years ago, the video of the clash appeared to have been extensively edited. The KUKA robot pulled ahead in an early heavy lead only for Boll to turn the tables after noticing the robot’s flaw in being unable to return net bounces and edge balls.

The thriller brought with it a wave of excitement in anticipation of the incorporation of robots into athletics – perhaps sooner than we may think.

The Dartmouth football team has already started practicing alongside a robotic tackling dummy named MVP, capable of matching the median speed of NFL players. Self-driving cars with deep neural networks have been featured in NASCAR races. Google recently announced AlphaGo, a self-learning computer program that has beaten the world champion as shown in an exhibition match in May last year.

Just how far are we willing to push the boundaries of the capabilities of robotics in athletics?

Imagine how the world would react if Manchester City walked out onto the field for their season opening with a starting robotic player. How about a team consisting of only robots?

There would certainly be great publicity and press coverage on the event with perhaps divided split in opinion on the matter. Profits might spike for the first few times, and tickets might be sold out. Economically, robots might initially appear to be feasible.

As artificial intelligence improves, however, so will the robots. No team is perfect –at least no human team. Players practice to develop their chemistry with one another and bond over the shared memories of buzzer beaters, constructive rivalry and hard-earned victories. We have what robots don’t: emotions. We are flawed, we have hot streaks and cold periods, and we make frequent mistakes.

Over time, robots are expected to outperform even the best in the world, making the odds near impossible. Having a team of them out on the field challenging the best that we have to offer can initially spark interest, but a perfect team of robots could eventually extinguish the human spirit of athletics.