Will Robots take over the world one day?
Encountering robots has become routine in our everyday lives whether we are aware or not. Scientists claim that robots are making a significant difference in many areas and industries, from building homes, treating patients, identifying diseases, designing our cars to methods of doing art. However, this involvement of robots in our everyday lives is concerning to some people as questions such as ‘are our daily activities going to be impacted by robots’ or ‘will we still have our jobs’ and many more.
The rapid advancement of AI along with readily available data sets and low priced electronics might be some of the factors that are paving the way for the upcoming ‘robot revolution’. With that being said, we mainly encounter robots in two different forms: the first being robots that complete many repetitive tasks such as automobile manufacturing assembly lines and the second being robots that obtain and adapt to information in real time such as in aviation.
Nonetheless, to reassure you that robots wouldn’t take over your job, lifestyle or anything in between, below are some industries which will greatly benefit from robot involvement in the near future.
Technology is rapidly advancing in the agriculture industry. Robots, AI, drone technology and 5G have provided significant improvements in agriculture and farming processes. For instance, in many countries around the world, robotic milking units have been introduced which can milk up to 70 cows per unit. Other examples are driverless tractors, automated harvesting systems, fertilization, crop seeding, monitoring, and dangerous activities such as pesticide administration.
Robotic presence in healthcare will help doctors, nurses and other medical staff in their jobs without taking over their duties. A report by Ohio University states that robots will aid in many healthcare practices such as therapy, patient companionship, surgery, rehabilitation as well as other everyday activities.
For example, a so-called Vinci Surgical System helps doctors during surgeries by utilizing their hand movements to control instruments that are very small into a patient’s body. Another example are robots named Paro who through sensors, microphones, and cameras offer comfort to patients with mental health issues.
The New York Times reported about Moley Robotics who invented automated and intelligent robots that will soon be able to cook hundreds of meals for a home kitchen. The robots will be controlled using a smartphone and by giving them the recipe and desired pre-cut ingredients, the food will be prepared quickly and efficiently.
Wars, terrorism, and numerous millitary-related attacks have generated the necessity of using robots for military purposes. Robots are already being applied in different military operations, such as unmanned drones, combat support, mine clearance, and many more. Benefits of robots for military purposes are endless. For instance, drones have been of significant help in identifying different risks, hostage situations, as well as assessing danger in different natural disasters giving soldiers and other groups the opportunity to proactively react. According to Interesting Engineering (2020), in the future robots are expected to also rescue people’s lives in different ways.
Robots that help in manufacturing have already been introduced in different countries with the aim of lowering production costs while increasing productivity. Many robots in manufacturing help human workers in monotonous, repetitive, and higher focus level tasks under the supervision of human managers.