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Abstract
How the Emergence of Robots and Robotics Will Change Our Lives
by
Beverly Renea Stinson
Webster University
Space Coast Region
Brevard County, Florida
Technology advances are changing the world at every level of human life. When a new product comes to market, humans require training and skill to operate it. The skill set of people today is not growing as rapidly as is needed to keep up with the evolution of technology. Robots will take the place of many jobs performed by humans due to cost reductions and forging ahead of the competition. Robotic workers will move into every area of our lives just as the automatic tellers, debit cards, and cell phones did. As Robotic Technology increase jobs will decrease and the average workers will no longer belong in the workplace.
Introduction
Robots are invading the workplace at unprecedented rates. They are being created to perform a wide array of work-related jobs. The increasing improvements of artificial intelligence and efficiency of work is driving companies to ramp up the production of robotics workers. Using Robotics in the workplace sounds like a good idea, but is replacing human workers with Robotics an ethical road to technological change? As technology emerge and Robotics makes human lives more improved and efficient, tasks that humans perform will not go away but will contribute to the comfort of not performing mundane routines everyday (Borenstein, 2010).
Defining the Problem/Issue/Situation
Serious considerations for human workers need to be addressed as Robotics introduces more and more to the workplace. Robots in the workplace change companies’ expectations as the demands on workers to perform more tasks as quickly and efficiently intensify. Companies are requiring increased productivity even though technology has greatly improved economy of scale and efficiency, while decreasing waste (Borenstein, 2010).
The benefits that employers receive with Robotic workers are they do not get sick and they do not require benefits. Scientists and engineers are pivotal in the role that robotics play in the type of employment trends that will develop. Robots cause automation of jobs, which causes the elimination of job opportunities and changes the face of the workplace in a significant way. A serious look needs to be taken at the increasing number of robot use in the workplace. Professions will change since the error rate for robots doing jobs is significantly lower than humans. Jobs that were previously viewed to be immune to automation will be replaced by computers, the Internet, and robots (Borenstein, 2010).
A new type of worker named Baxter is coming. He will have no problem getting a job in today’s troubling economy. Baxter may not be speedy, but training him is very simple. Do not worry about hiring him; buy him and a warranty for help if troubles arise later. Baxter is not a human, but one day he could be called coworker. Baxter coming into the workforce will revolutionize the labor pool all over the world. Baxter was created by Rodney Brooks, who also introduced the Roomba vacuum cleaner. Robot prices are so low, starting around $22,000, even those who doubt robotic workers are breaking the resistance to have one (Young, 2013). Predictions by a computer scientist says there will be Baxters working in express restaurants during work like making doughnuts, flipping burgers, taking orders, and numerous other service oriented jobs (Young, 2013).
Robots will perform some of the same tasks as humans. They can move cargo on cargo trucks and pilot the planes that delivery cargo. Henrik Christensen, director of robotics at Georgia Tech, foresaw this coming. He related Google’s presentation of automobiles driving with no drivers and the military utilizing the technology to fly pilotless drones to robotic replacement of humans (Young, 2013).
Growing concerns are increasing over robots like Baxter and the emerging technological automation replacing humans in jobs. New inventions over the centuries, has steadily removed human workers from jobs. Farmers realized the phase in of machine automation when combines gathered corn, assembly lines workers became machines, and computers interfered with all businesses. The creations of new automated jobs remove humans, but other jobs will emerge from the digital technology. Scholars are pondering that jobs could become obsolete, but products and services cost would drastically decrease making full-time jobs not desirable. Robots such as Baxter would not be seen as a threat, just a partner (Young, 2013).
Adept Technology developed a robot to roam the halls of hospitals to take care of jobs that take up a nurse’s time. Nurses walk many miles during the day taking time away from tasks that require more attention. Robots will do tasks such as deliveries which require many trips around the hospital. Tasks that are not related to the patient directly could be done by a robot. Routine tasks performed by robots would alleviate workloads and enable more complicated and high priority work to be accomplished (Young, 2013).
Hypotheses
Robots will be more prevalent in the workplace than humans and will used to replace humans even in highly skilled professions. There are many jobs that can be automated using machines. Mundane jobs that require no thinking and are performed routinely over and over again can easily be replaced by robots. Additionally, technological changes are occurring so rapidly that workers are not keeping up with the skills sets required to work alongside robots. So, how will humans keep up with the technology that will be needed to compete against robots and robotics? Humans will have to be educated and trained in maintaining robots, and industries and educational institutions will need to collaborate more closely to identify professions that require human innovation and emotion.
Assumptions
The research assumes that statistical data retrieved from governmental sources are accurate. In addition, various studies presented are assumed to be empirical and not significantly skewed or flawed.
Need for the Research
Robots are designed to do just about anything a human can do. They can build, drive, think, prepare, and perform tasks they are instructed to do. If robots can do these things, what would humans be needed for? Human workers require a salary and benefits and need time off for illness and vacations. Companies that are in the business of cutting cost by reducing the workforce would save money using robots. They can be used whenever required without having to take off any time for personal needs. A manufacturer utilizing robotics can have the entire factory performing on its own using robots while off on a business trip or on vacation with the family. In general people do not believe that robots could take their jobs because they do not provide cognitive skills that humans provide.
Thoughts of robots impacting humans lives at this time is not at the forefront of people today just as the thought of agriculture machines impacting farming was not of people in early history. Robotics needed to be seen in future job automation terms and relevance. Technological changes will not guarantee that everyone will find a place in the change. There will be humans that will greatly benefit from the robotics revolution, but there will also be humans that will be displaced with nowhere to fit in the picture.
Manufacturers are always looking for cheap labor to produce low-cost products. United States companies moved many of their production factories overseas where labor cost is at a minimum. When the laborers in these foreign countries standard of living and intelligence start to increase they become less interested in doing this low skilled work. Therefore to keep manufacturer costs low they will move the business to another country that provide cheap labor. But after the workers gain the same benefits of other countries they too will no longer have the desire to do difficult work at low wages.
Will humans be able to survive the robotic evolution as did the laborers with the mechanical changes? Humans need to prepare themselves to adjust to the changing technological advances that are pushing society into a new global economical impact (Gosfield, Sweeney, 2013).
Section II Review of the Literature
Research performed by the Associated Press discovered millions of jobs vanished, thought to be a result of robots according to Andrew McAfee, “The jobs that are going away are not coming back (Zeiler, 2013).” The weak economy has taken the blame for the huge job losses in the United States. The workforce is continuously being impacted by automation and human workers are steadily decreasing (Zeiler, 2013). Moshe Vardi, a computer scientist at Rice University, said “Everything that humans can do, a machine can do.” He told the Associated Press, “Things are happening that look like science fiction (Zeiler, 2013).”
Manufacturers in the United States have witnessed the loss of jobs due to automation for some time, but that has rocketed forward in recent years. Asian workers are generally used for cheap labor costs, but robots intelligence and effectiveness are replacing their advantages. The robot Baxter, invented by an Institute of Technology professor, is a great leap in robot technology. He can mimic the works of humans and require no programming of any kind. Baxter is not like industrial robots used in manufacturing. Sensors are located on Baxter to detect the presence of humans which provides a comfort of safety allowing him to work anywhere (Zeiler, 2013). Comparing Baxter to industrial robotics, the cost is the advantage over industrial robots. The $22,000 price for Baxter is fairly cheap when you think of hundreds and thousands of dollars for industrial robots and the cost of maintaining them (Zeiler, 2013).
Asia is taking the steps toward robotics as well as the United States. Foxconn, a gigantic Chinese factory that construct buyer electronics for big name brand manufactures such as Apple’s iPhone said, “It will be adding a million assembly line robot workers within three years
Nine jobs that humans may lose to robots
The intelligence of robots is improving as technology improves. They are outperforming humans in many instances. Jobs can be done by robots without mistakes and they will stay in tune to their jobs at all times. “In 2013 robots will comprise of 1.2 million in companies all over the world (Aquino, 2012)”. Robots are doing jobs that were only done by humans before such as reading papers, working as pharmacy technicians, and filling orders in factories (Aquino, 2012). The following job roles currently being performed by humans could eventually be done by robots:
Pharmacists
Imagine going through the drive-thru window at your local pharmacy and a robot is asking you for your identification. There are robots already performing pharmacy work at the University of California San Francisco Medical Center. The entire pharmacy is controlled by robots that are preparing doses of medicine and dispensing them to customers. Medicine is assembled and packaged using a barcode system to accurately distribute according to the patient prescriptions. The University of California San Francisco Medical Center had the system online over a period of one year. The robots using the computer system were able to create thousands of doses of medication error free. Sophisticated chemotherapy doses that are administrated intravenously are prepare and waiting at patient’s bedside for validation by hospital staff (Aquino, 2012).
Astronauts
National Aeronautical Space Association along with General Motor developed a robot called Robonaut2 using android Technology. Robonaut2 started off during low level tasks such as cleaning the spacestation and assisting the astronauts with tasks onboard the station. One day robots will be conducting spacewalks and repairing the vessel. They will assist in performing experiments and recording critical data
Soldiers
The military is still using humans in the armed forces, but those number are being reduces as robots are being used to perform duties that soldiers are limited in. Drones are gathering intelligence data and aiding in combat missions too dangerous for humans to support. Troops are engaged in military conflicts all over the world, many times in terrains that humans are not familiar with. They are unable to get into mountain sides that contain deep caverns where the enemies are hiding. Drones are wired with Global Positioning Satellite equipment that can be programmed to distinguish fires, bombs, and fire zones. Human bodies could be dragged out of inaccessible areas using drones so their bodies can be recovered (Aquino, 2012).
Babysitters
Robots can be used to as killer weapons as have been seen in movies that entertain. Imagine a robot babysitter watching kids as humans shop and eat while mall strolling. Well, Aeon Company, a huge Japanese merchant, created in 2007, a yellow and white four-foot-tall robot that will let humans shop while the kids are being cared for by a robot. Another robot that entertains kids is Hello Kitty. This robot is perfect for adults that need something to keep their kids busy while they get other things done. Hello Kitty robot comes with many features such as keep track of the kids using a tracking chip, keeps them laughing with jokes, and ask questions that can keep them thinking (Aquino, 2012).
Rescuers
Many rescues require dangerous and hard to reach situations that humans are not able to perform. Robots are being offered to perform these rescues. Scientist Satoshi Tadokoro offered a snake robot that can maneuver through small areas and provide images of destroyed structures. Drones are some of the most useful robots since they can give overhead air views over the oceans and under structures that are unreachable by humans (Aquino, 2012).
Sportswriters and other reporters
The Big Ten Network utilizes a machine named Narrative Science that will create stories for its Fox Cable network. These stories are reports on coverage of baseball and softball. Using Narrative Science the network can write stories cheaper than human reporters. When the games are over the stories can be e-mailed and loaded into the Narrative Science machine and a printed copy is in hand in minutes. Big Ten’s director of new media, Michael Calderon tells Bloomberg Businessweek, “It’s considerably less expensive for us to go this route than for us to try to have our own beat reporters at each one of these games.”
Security
RoboteX, located in Palo Alto, California, was started in 2007 by Adam Gettings and Nathan Gettings. Robot Cops called “Robocops” were unleashed in 2009 toward the end of the year. Hundreds of these robust robot cops have been utilized by fire and police departments around the United States. They can be used in hostage situations and areas that required surveillance in dangerous situation without having to worry about putting humans in perilous situations. Robocops cost are sufficiently low starting around $12,500 enabling about one-fifth of SWAT teams in California to purchase them. The company is starting to see profits allowing them to venture into personal and industrial security (Wang, 2013).
The base of the robots are heavily constructed like an armored tank remotely-controlled with add-on features such as robotic arms that can be used to defuse bombs or control crowds when a presence of great danger exists. Chemical spills can be extracted using robots without humans being exposed to deadly chemicals. The robots can be sent in to areas to provide video feeds where otherwise would pose high risk for humans. Imagine the impact robots would have on security as they will become the normal security we see, replacing humans. Robots could guard buildings around the clock with no breaks or relief needed (Wang, 2013).
Solar energy
Qbotix, located in Menlo Park, California, developed a robotic system which will aid in the collection of data solar energy farms. The founder and CEO Wasiq Bokhari along with Qbotix’s 30 employees developed the system along with associates in the United States and Japan. They used simply robots equipped with intelligence, strength, and abilities to function on its own to work in desolate areas where conditions are unbearable to humans. Robots are strategically installed along a monorail track controlling over 1,200 solar panels that power approximately 30 homes that turn in the direction of the sun a single time each 40 minutes. The robots can gather information and record particles that collect on the sensors interfering with operations, providing adequate time to remedy a failure (Wang, 2013).
Qbotix realized the robots enable them to create more energy and cut down on the amount of power required to run the system by twenty percent. Once other companies realize the advantages of having these robots they will use them as well (Wang, 2013). Manufacturers are not easily convinced to use robots unless they are of great value in reducing production cost.
Industrial robots
Manufacturers are using robots in the production all types of consumables. They are building cars, mobile phones, and solar panels. Companies such as ABB Robotics, Kuka Robotics or Adept Technology are using robots to their advantage which gains profits for the companies, but human worker will lost their jobs at the same time.
Performing the Research
Both Primary and Secondary research methodologies was conducted to prepare this research paper. Several weeks of reviewing robotic technology journals and studying surveys conducted by The International Robotic Foundation were obtained to gather data. Robotic Technology journals were read and studied to develop a foundation for answers to the robotic invasion in human jobs. Throughout the research many companies were studied to get a feel of their impact of the robotic technology. A review of history of robotics and the jobs that are impacted by this technology was studied.
Analysis of the Data
In this portion of the section, analyze, clarify, and discuss the data gathered as a result of all research methods. This is the area where evidence is presented, described, and discussed to show the basis for the findings and conclusions of the report. Data gathered and presented in Section II may be included in the analysis to strengthen and amplify the discussion.
Findings
Robotic Technology is here today and will be even more so in the future. People will not like the idea of robots taking human jobs, but technology advances will demand it. Eventually manual labor will make manufacturing jobs obsolete to humans. Once factories are all automated humans will be there just to turn on an off the lights. Robotic software is improving and with the use of cloud robotics a reduction can be made in the programming of robots. The advance intelligence of robots and the ease of training robots will slowing reduce the need for a robotic operator.