Why did a robot cross the road in Baltimore? To get to the Convention Center.

Thousands watched a viral TikTok video of Benji crossing a busy intersection practically on his own in downtown Baltimore.

Benji is not a toddler taking his first steps. Benji is a robot.

“iRobot has come to Baltimore,” one user commented on the video, which has more than 25,000 views as of Friday. Others responded with shock and surprise.

Benji is a humanoid robot owned by The Robot Studio, a startup based in Dallas, Texas. Founder Aaron Mehdizadeh said the company rents its Benji robots to clients across the U.S., usually as entertainment for conferences, birthdays and weddings.

Mehdizadeh saw the viral video of Benji crossing Paca Street near the Convention Center. A human handler followed Benji, nudging it gently so that it stayed in the crosswalk before continuing down the sidewalk.

People aren’t used to seeing robots out in the wild, he said, adding that Benji can be striking. The company prioritizes the “cuteness factor,” he said, which can be at odds with people’s fears of robots and artificial intelligence.

SteelcoBelimed, an infection control and contamination prevention company, rented Benji ahead of the Healthcare Sterile Processing Association conference at the Baltimore Convention Center earlier this week, Mehdizadeh said. Benji learned particular phrases and dance moves for the conference, Mehdizadeh said.

His stroll around Baltimore also caused quite a stir. And got us wondering: Are we going to start seeing more robots walking the streets?

The U.S. is seeing a gradual introduction of robots to everyday life, said James Bellingham, the executive director of Johns Hopkins University’s Institute for Assured Autonomy.

It started with things that didn’t look humanoid, like the Roomba, he said. When it comes to humanoids, though, robots are still pretty expensive. Many of these early robot systems aren’t very capable or reliable, and they’re mostly used for demos or entertainment at events, he said.

But humanoids are getting better, he added. Bellingham can imagine humanoids taking over manufacturing and warehouse jobs in the not-too-distant future.

Humanoids won’t arrive without causing job disruptions and raising legitimate concerns, Bellingham said, and it’s a question society needs to take to government representatives.

“The challenge is — how are we going to make this beneficial for everybody?" he said. “The benefit is potentially tremendous, so hopefully we can make it work.”

Mehdizadeh said the company will start accepting purchase orders in the next few months and will program Benji for clients’ individualized needs. In the meantime, Baltimoreans who can’t get enough of Benji can rent him for around $3,000 a day.