Meaning
What does Upgrades, People, Upgrades mean?
Upgrades, People, Upgrades is an iconic quote from the 2005 computer animation, Robots.
On the internet, the image macro from the scene is associated with shrewd thinking and lifehacks, similar to the Improvise. Adapt. Overcome. meme.
Origin
What's the origin of Upgrades, People, Upgrades?
The movie premiered in the US on March 11th, 2005.
In one of the scenes, the character, named Phineas T. Ratched (voiced by Gregg Kinnear) is pitching his business plan of replacing spare parts as their main profile with “upgrades, people, upgrades”.
Spread & Usage
How did Upgrades, People, Upgrades spread?
The meme first appeared on Reddit on July 25th, 2019, posted by theepicguys to the r/MemeTemplatesOfficial subreddit.
The format was unused until August, when memes started showing up in various Reddit threads, including r/memes, r/dankmemes as well as r/HistoryMemes.

External resources
- Know Your Meme – Upgrades, People, Upgrades