Robots, humans of the future

• Ineffective and harmful policies

What, exactly, is robotics? For those unaware of the term, robotics is basically an interdisciplinary branch belonging to engineering and science inclusive of mechanics, electrical and computer science, etc. Robotics is concerned with the designing, construction, operations and the applicability of robots in the field. In addition to the above information, it manages computer systems for control purposes, sensory feedback and information processing of the robots.

The said technologies assist in developing machines to be substituted for humans and entirely replicate human actions respectively. Robots can be put into service for a multitude of situations and purposes. As of today, a number of them are utilised in deadly environments, including bomb detection and bomb de-activation, manufacturing processes or in regions where humans aren’t born to survive. Robots can adapt to any form while there are many that are produced to resemble humans in appearance. This is found to aid in acceptance of a robot in certain replicative behaviours usually performed by people. Such robots attempt to replicate walking, lifting, speech, cognition, and basically any and all actions a human can perform.

Robots in the present world

With the increasing manufacture of robots and attempts to adjust them in the present world to perform various amount of works, as said by dozens, ‘make lives easier for humans’, it won’t be quite directed towards help as it would be more of a downfall for humans. On the contrary, this sentence of making lives easier is genuine to some extent but if looked at from another perspective, robots performing all works would mean unemployment for millions.

In an alarmingly unstable employment market of today, developed nations are in desperate need of more science, tech, engineering and math

Humans are on an unending quest of development and are becoming increasingly consumed by the idea of a robot operated world without thinking about the consequences that would be faced in the years to come or even focusing on the future plans seems unchallenging to them, in other words a piece of cake. As their robot filled future would ease out the problems of the world in an instant which is untrue. Many believe humans to be creating machines leading to their own demise, in a gradual manner.

The movies we watched growing up about robots steadily and gradually taking over the world seem to be unsurprisingly turning into reality. We have been familiar for a long time with robots working in industries performing rote tasks but the capabilities of the robots, with time, have evolved. From health and homecare to military usage and emergency responses, robots are rapidly becoming a fixture in human lives. For decades, robots have worked in the shadows in order to enhance productivity of humans until very recently, however, this futuristic and science fiction inspired vision of robotic tech has at large remained detached from the utilitarian part performed in manufacturing. But robotics is swiftly on the course of advancing to the position where we are genuinely beginning to witness it move into many new areas of the economy.

However, this does not in any way imply the destruction humans are leading themselves into and that, too, by their own making. This would not only decrease the interaction among human beings but simultaneously grow to pose threat at some point. While robots have been utilised in countless industries, it is predicted that a tipping point in robotic deployment is imminent as although the world has developed, yet, it isn’t prepared for a radical transition as introducing robots in our everyday lives. There are numerous people who recognise automation as an inevitably disruptive force for the world and their lives and aren’t in any way ready to accept them.

Robotic automation has countless people worried

The population advocating robotic automation is calming the public by explaining how, for the most part, robots for one can’t program themselves. In theory this will open doors for new and high-skilled jobs but tragically for every job appointed by robotic automation, several more will definitely be eliminated, leaving a devastating impact on the public workforce. To be specific, robots once serving in the realms of science fiction are now being given life and that by us humans.

Is Silicon Valley the answer?

With millions of jobs at stake simultaneously with a world-wide employment crisis, one won’t be considered a lunatic if career change is the decision. In an alarmingly unstable employment market of today, developed nations are in desperate need of more science, tech, engineering and math.

Are robots weapons of mass destruction?

If any of you have seen the movie The Terminator then you’d get the precise picture of how events might turn out in the case of a war where unarmed children and women would wind up dead. As robots do not have brains of their own and operate entirely on programming, differentiating between good and evil is not something that programming can decipher. It requires exceptional intuitive skill and sense to comprehend a critical situation.

A few months back, an AI (Artificial Intelligence) named Sophia sparked the news when it threatened to destroy human kind and was being provided citizenship of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Was that a programming tactic to impress the public or the robot speaking on its own terms based on the programming procedure to make it think like humans? This is a question that raises concern and one that has terrified millions by the uncertainty of its answer.

Declaring Sophia a citizen of Saudi Arabia has created a massive void in legal systems around the globe, fundamentally damaging public understanding of Artificial intelligence and the very notion of human rights. This calls for nuanced and accurate policies to ensure harmful biases are not perpetuated. The report of instances of AI displaying racism and sexism are enough to cause concern among people. The declaration of Sophia as a citizen has actively fed into the false and overhyped portrayal of the current state of AI and robotics, which will successively facilitate ineffective harmful policies.