The people involved in service robot standardisation need to address that. The ISO itself admits that the latest standards are only a first step for a developing industry, and that more work will need to be done as the technology develops. An early mover in the space of collaborative robots, von Hollen explained that legal issues were initially a direct challenge to the business. That was still the case five years ago, but things are changing rapidly.
The laws are evolving, and it's an on-going process even as we speak. Now, what von Hollen sees as the biggest obstacle to cobots is awareness of what the technology can do for businesses -- and how easily it can do it. Universal Robots, in fact, promises that the company's platform and online courses will let anybody program a robot in less than 87 minutes, with or without an engineering degree.
This is because, for those who have never dealt with robotics, the whole concept might seem difficult, complex, and out of their control. Von Hollen remembers one of his customers based in a rural part of the US, whose business sands and polishes metal parts. He was standing in the background when we showed the proof-of-concept.
Just 20 minutes in, he said he'd buy it. When he went up to the business owner to ask why his son had suddenly seen a case for deploying a robot, von Hollen was surprised to find out that the motive was not financial. Rather than wanting to boost productivity, his customer was concerned with one of his employees, who had been working on the production line for 17 years, doing the same repetitive job. The employee was developing arthritis in her shoulder and elbow, and her employer felt accountable for it.
They are monotonous, repetitive, tough roles, which most of us don't want to do. But they still have to be done. Those are the areas we are looking at for cobots. Von Hollen's comments are reflective of an often-heard defence of the rise of robots, in the face of employees scared that automation will take their jobs. Despite the ominous numbers, experts don't expect major job cuts anytime soon. Rather, the nature of work will shift, as robots take on the boring and the mundane, and employees are given more freedom to focus on tasks that require human input, such as creativity, interaction, management or teamwork.
McKinsey, in fact, expects that the demand for socio-emotional skills will go up by a third. In a way, this is only a natural continuation of work. Will Venters, assistant professor of information systems from the London School of Economics' department of management, argues that humans and technology have always worked together.
Robots are being brought into the workplace; but often, this same workplace is already embedded with technology designed to enhance human productivity.
That brings about the fear that these things will replace humans. What we call robots, says Venters, is only the most sophisticated technology that we have today, and is no different from the tools of the past. There was never fear that the electric drill could take over the job of a builder, and the same applies to robots, no matter how human-like they are.
In its London headquarters, digital marketing company Brainlabs has had a robotic receptionist for three years now. The company purchased one of Softbank's Pepper robots to greet visitors once they reach the office floor's main entrance, and to notify the relevant person by email that their guest has arrived.
Pepper can even do some entertaining while visitors wait, informing them about the weather forecast or preparing them a coffee via a wi-fi-enabled coffee machine. But before the robot joined the team, explains Gilbert, the company's human receptionist had to split her time between looking after the office and bookkeeping with greeting visitors, which she found disturbed her workflow. In its London headquarters, digital marketing company Brainslabs has had a robotic receptionist for three years now.
In a way, the decision to purchase the robot is no different to coming up with a code to automate reporting, or with filters to move emails into certain folders in Gmail.
Plus, argues Gilbert, automation leads to cost-cutting and business growth -- and that in turn generates job growth. In other words, hiring robots ultimately leads to hiring humans.
And one thing is certain: communicating the right message to employees is key to on-boarding any robot. As humanoid as it can get, a robot is only another workplace tool; and it is vital that human employees know that they are still part of the mix. Pepper, as a result, was welcomed by his human colleagues, who have now grown used to the robot's presence, and even created personal reactions for it to say when their name is given by a visitor. The Brainlabs CEO's top tip for a smooth transition to automation?
A renewed focus on the human workforce, which reflects that management cares about employee development. Research firm Gartner even suggested that HR departments start thinking of expanding their services to include "robotics resources", too. Gartner predicted that by , at least two of the top ten global retailers will have reshuffled their HR departments to accommodate robotic needs.
The results of our futurology poll. Climate change. Do we still need to wake up to the future? Climate change is a clear and present danger. Climate change is serious, but we have to have a realistic response.
Will household robots ever change our lives? Robotics can - and will - change our lives in the near future. The domestic robot is a dream we must leave behind. Future body.
Should genetic engineering become more common place? We are wrong to use genetic manipulation for future health. Biotechnology will solve the challenges of an aging population. Can we ever solve the transport conundrum? We must take drastic action now to change our transport patterns. Things have already turned a corner. How will medical advances change society? What will medical advances cost the economy? Medicine will not only make us live longer, but live better.
Financial security is what we need to focus on. Because change happenz. Your computer cannot solve general questions, and neither will robotics. But if you know its purpose and make precise queries of it in clear, understandable ways, it will execute repetitive tasks efficiently. These are questions we get asked a lot. In fact, they may lead to more human jobs. According to a report from the World Economic Forum , robots may displace 75 million jobs globally by , but in time create a net positive of million new ones!
Take the example of a spreadsheet. Prior to its existence, accountants spent a lot of time adding numbers manually. The advent of the spreadsheet made work so much easier for accountants, who were now able to spend their time making informed business decisions, improve communications, increase reporting, and streamline efficiencies.
These advancements increased profitability which actually created way more jobs, although programmatically, the responsibility for the person that added the numbers no longer existed. In fact, the future of robots and humans very much go hand-in-hand.
A funny thing happens when you take motors and put them in a configuration that looks like an arm. Yes, in the future robots will be functionally capable of taking over most of if not all automation. However, we are still several major advancements in machine learning away from that — and even then there will be limitations. Then along came Henry Ford and his assembly line model that was able to produce incredible numbers of cars in short periods of time.
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