Robots are no longer objects of fantasies that kids admire on the media or as toys. Robots are now realities in our lives. Robots are, in fact, gradually taking over the less available jobs that humans have to compete for.
Why has this reality come to stay? Robots are proficient, accurate, precise and order-bound. They do not get restless, fall sick or show any emotional attachment.
A number of the available jobs today can be done by automation and that is why robots appear to be at the upper rung of the ladder.
The gradual proliferation of robots into the human workforce is taking a rise and so, might appear that the unemployment of a significant number of human labor is inevitable.
Here is a list of the very important jobs that robots have taken over, due to their power of automation.
Call Centre Operative
You must have been responded to an automated voice on your phone at one time or the other. This is a regular occurrence in the daily usage of an average phone user. Computers are now automated to be conversational, through the application of machine learning and natural language processing.
With this enhancement, Robots connect personally with customers easily. Research from companies has shown that customers prefer interaction with a virtual assistant through the use of FAQs.
With improvements on Artificial Intelligence and processing of natural language, the eventual take over by robots, after comprehending diverse languages, may pose a serious threat.
Courier
Packages get delivered at our doorsteps by courier services, through their delivery men on motorcycles or vans. With a little advancement, some companies make use of drones for delivery, although, the drones have their shortfalls. They are not designed to lift objects that are way above their sizes.
In 2014, Starship Technologies designed courier Robots that can lift heavy objects and the company plans to deploy these courier Robots in their numbers, sometime soon. What should we expect from this? When this gets done, eventually, courier companies might fall out of business, making courier delivery men to lose their jobs.
Surgeon
For workers in the health care system, they might have come across software that can diagnose diseases and medicine dispensers. All these are the benefits Robots have brought to the table. It would be surprising to know that advanced Robots can perform equally well as human surgeons.
In 2016, a Smart Tissue Autonomous Robot, (STAR), in a non-human experiment, successfully performed a stitch on the small intestine of a pig successfully as compared to a human.
External constraints such as fatigue have no influence on Robot surgeons; therefore, they are less prone to errors, unlike their human counterparts. Though it must be made clear here, that the margin of error that can be committed by human surgeons, is far negligible, Robots have shown that they can take over.
Farming
Food is a necessity of life. No wonder the agricultural sector continues to see technological advancement for its development. From subsistence farming to commercial, (mechanized), farming, the narrative has changed for modern-day farmers.
Robots that can cultivate crops like humans, are now available. They are referred to as farmbots. This is a major step in the farming process. Farmbots can sow, nurture for maturity and perform weed control.
It should, however, be stressed that the input of human is still much required for the farming system.
Security guard
You may come across a security guard, who will claim that he can man a post all the way, 24/7, in carrying out his job. At a point, because he is human, he breaks down because his body is not a machine.
Robotic companies are now making security Robot guards that can stand on guard, with no breaks required, no fatigue and with a 360-degree view of its surroundings. The bots are enhanced with thermal cameras and laser scanners.
Retail Assistant
Chatbots are now part of the online retail system, but nowadays, Robots can now be found in physical shops too. Somewhere in California in the US, a retail company has engaged the services of Robots in attending to customers. The bots render help to customers by finding and locating the items that the shoppers desire.
They are programmed with a working knowledge of the store’s inventory; I think we would agree here that non-Robotic assistance would be incapable of such capacity.
Fast food worker
In the United States alone, the employment of Robots in preparation for fast food could result in a job loss of over 2 million workers!
Miso Robotics has designed Robot cooks and it has planned to distribute it to over 50 locations. As much as people want to feel the taste of man-made food, it would be a great experience to see what Robot cooks could offer. If, eventually, Robots perform better than man, then, the future for man’s work is bleak.
Journalist
In the Beijing Olympics, Toutiao, a news agency employed the service of a Robot journalist in the event coverage. With the integration of Artificial Intelligence, these Robots are proficient in pulling tonnes of information, compared to human journalists. Do not be surprised that they can effectively produce quality articles like great writers.
We cannot, however, jettison the effect of human touch on written articles and in addition to that, articles generated by Robots require the input of a human editor.
Soldier
You might have seen Robot soldiers in movies and think of them as fantasies, but it is no secret that, the most advanced nations in the world are ready to integrate Robotics into the war zone.
By 2025, the United States could possess more combat Robots than human soldiers. The point to be justified here is that, why waste human lives, when robots can go to war in arms combat.
Perhaps, this eventual takeover might pose an advantage to humans because countries employing such would worry less about losing humans, but there is the other side to this still, with humans losing their jobs to Robots.
