Most of us perceive the term ‘Robotics’ as a phenomenon that will transform the world once and for all. It has some stigma attached to it. Like it will replace humans from their work and with the high AI (Artificial Intelligence) ability, it can go beyond human control. Hope we detach that stigma from your minds at the end.
Now, let’s take one step further to understand robots. These are machines that can carry out complex actions automatically. They require three elements to perform this action. Like sensors such as cameras, lidar, or microphones; actuators such as motors, pistons or artificial muscles, and controllers.
They can be controlled remotely by humans. But, generally, they are partially or entirely controlled by computers, which makes them autonomous. Unlike other machines, they look quite humanoid in appearance with two arms, two legs, a head with cameras for eyes. But if you analyze the current trends, a significant number of robots are designed to fit their function.
The significance of robotics is not just restricted for some high-end purposes. It has been making a huge impact on our daily lives as well. Just simply think of the self-serve pump next time you stop for gas. However such innovation was hard to imagine when gas stations began. But now even the remotest areas have such kinds of access to robots. And this is just one example of how artificial intelligence has transformed the way we live.
Today, the best of the companies are in a constant race and investing heavily in robotics to
take this area to another level.
“Robotics companies raised more than $15.6 billion during the first half of 2019. According to the robotics investments tracked and verified by The Robot Report, more than $2.6 billion was raised on average per month. The year started slowly with $644 million raised in January, but there was at least $1.3 billion raised each month thereafter.”
Robotics in Public Security
There was a time when the role of Artificial Intelligence for predicting and detecting crime
seemed a distant one. But, thanks to multiple innovations, it is quite possible for the
future we are looking at. Like drones with the camera-based security systems have already
been working with the automatic ability to recognize suspicious activities.
This will be implemented in a way that has been expected, it will be a huge success in the public sector. It will allow law enforcement officials to act quickly whenever a suspicious behavior has been spotted.
Robots in Education
You can already witness the diminishing of the line between classrooms and individual learning systems. Most educational experts have put their words in favor of computer-based learning. As a single teacher doesn’t have the acumen to meet the needs of personalized learning for every single student.
AI-based robots are already making a huge success to make learning more personalized. They are not actually replacing teachers as we seem. But it further empowers students to learn at their own pace.
Robots will boost the process of personalized learning. NAO, the humanoid robot, is already forming bonds with students from around the world. It has an inbuilt ability to sense natural interaction, including moving, listening, speaking, and connecting.
“The educational robot market is expected to register a CAGR of 16% over the forecast period (2020-2025).”
Robots at Home
If you are one of a kind “who lives high on technology”. Cloud-connected home robots are an integral part of your life. Through these AI robots, we can set up the vacuum cleaner to do the chore for us, and we can schedule a warm home-cooked meal to be ready by the time we’re finished with work.
Going further, multi-function robotic cookers can fry, steam, bake, slow cook, and perform many such actions without our intervention. We just have to set them up at the task. Now, with the latest speech recognition innovation like Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, Google Assistant, and more. Humans can engage with the IP-connected devices more interactively and will entirely change the look and feel of our homes.
Robots as Coworkers
The most significant profound impact of robots can be seen in the workplace. And why not? They have the amazing capability of taking on multiple roles in an organization. So it’s time for us to explore the most interactive ways to interact with our new co-workers.
When voice recognition will integrate widely, the machines will likely evolve in terms of communicating with humans. “This is how futurist Nikolas Badminton expects things to develop: “You’re probably going to walk into an office and your system’s been churning over the last couple of hours considering what’s been going on in the businesses, your role, your job, what you need to do that day, and probably offer up several ideas about the right direction of what to do.”
Do you feel this far-fetched? Well, after reading the above scenarios, it will certainly look feasible and imminent.
Now, it is time to address the most controversial misconception about AI-powered robots is that they might take our jobs. Whether you like it or not, robots have already replaced many people in their jobs. Especially, the jobs in office administration, logistics, and transport, and at a bigger risk of being replaced. If you consider the case of autonomous vehicles, there is enough possibility that you will see enough of them on the roads.
As per the Study by Ball State University predicted that many occupations are at risk of being automated, including insurance underwriters, telemarketers, and tax-return preparers. Taking more precisely, robots are expected to take over half of all the low-skilled jobs. So keep your skills upgraded, if you don’t want to bear the lash of AI-powered robots.
“A McKinsey Global Institute study of eight hundred occupations in nearly fifty countries showed that more than 800 million jobs, or 20 percent of the global workforce, could be lost to robotics by the year 2030.”
On the contrary, they will create jobs too
The most common fear around robotics development is that it will take our jobs. Yes, technology is changing unprecedentedly, and there will be some economic ramifications for it. For instance, driverless cars will replace cab drivers in the future. But if you look from a different perspective, it will replace or automate some tasks, not jobs.
The positive side of this development is that it will also create new markets, thus new jobs. As we need a new breed of experts to perform these tasks.
Autonomous Cars
If you don’t know, self-driving cars will still need some human intervention. But only up to a certain limit. There will be a time when the whole process will be automated. The journey of these autonomous cars has been amazing. It started with “how is it even possible?” to “Maybe it is possible, to “Certainly our roads will witness them soon.” There was a time when Google’s Waymo had a monopoly on self-driven cars. But now organizations like GM Cruise, Argo AI, Uber, and Tesla are now in neck-to-neck competition with each other. The users of this service can now get matched with a self-driving Uber when they request the service to witness a glimpse of the future.
God knows this innovation will change the way we see our transport industry in the coming years forever.
Healthcare Robots
Today, the healthcare industry has transformed the way it was. Instead of roaming around the primary care physician for a check-up with a simple stethoscope. One can have robots perform these tasks, or even more. They will interact with patients, keep a constant check on their conditions, and even suggest a more personalized treatment.
Maybe you have already heard about EMR (Electronic medical records improve quality of care, patient outcomes, and safety through improved management, reduction in medication errors, reduction in unnecessary investigations, and improved communication and interactions among primary care providers, patients, and other providers involved in care).
Going further, Pharmabotics will bring more changes to healthcare. They will act like ATMs for medicines so that we can take our medications and prevent the inconvenience of talking to a stranger about our health issues. Just look at the stats to make this claim more trustworthy.
As per Hospital News, a leading publication in the healthcare sector:
“By 2020, surgical robotics sales are expected to almost double to $6.4 billion.”
“Less than a millimeter-sized Microbot delivers drugs through the bloodstream.”
“Veebot draws blood in less than a minute.”
Robotics for Entertainment
Thanks to capital expenditure and multiple innovations, robots are getting more and more personalized, interactive, and engaging day by day. With the growth of the industry, virtual reality will also be soon entered our homes in the near future. We will be interacting with our home entertainment systems through conversations
Soon, we will be able to interact with our home entertainment systems through conversations, and they communicate with us in the same breath.
“In 2015, the total number of toy robots, remote-controlled multi-media robots, and personal edutainment robots amounted to 1.7 million units. The IFR forecasts that this market will grow to 11 million units between 2016 and 2019.”
Robots will boost our standard of living
Beyond the shadow of a doubt, automation and mechanization are destined to boost the overall standard of living. Either they bring efficiency or pace, or they empower us to witness a new way of life. From the last industrial revolution itself, the global economy grew sevenfold and was expected to grow multifold at a double pace.
So it is better to ride with this wave or you will see yourself lost in oblivion.
