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Some people are worried robots will take over the world. Here are 10 reasons why that would be great.
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We've been celebrating National Robotics Week, April 4-12, with articles about the latest robot technology, a radio show about the value of social robots, protests against robots and why they are silly, truly evil robots, and a general celebration of what robots can do.
At the heart of all those articles is a simple question -- will robots help our lives or ruin them?
Some people are worried about robots taking their jobs. Some are worried about them enslaving us or making us pets. Some think they are expensive pieces of technology that aren't giving us any ROI. Others see a utopian future where people are freed from dangerous and mindless tasks.
I say let's go with it. Let's welcome the new robot masters. No matter what happens, it'll be an adventure. And who says humans are all that great to begin with? We pollute the planet, destroy natural resources, hurt each other, and create chaos on an otherwise fairly orderly planet. Maybe robots can clean up our messes, like Wall-E did, but before we actually have to leave the planet for it to happen.
There's no reason to assume robots would do any worse running the planet than people have. So I present to you:
Ten Reasons Robots Should Rule The World
1. You don't really like your job anyway. Only 13% of people in the whole world really feel engaged in their job. So what's the big deal if robots take those jobs over?
2. Your cat has it pretty good. Your cat sleeps 20 hours a day. He or she wakes up to eat and get scratched behind the ears. If robots keep us as pets, it doesn't sound like such a bad life.
3. We make lousy slaves. Remember, robots can go 24 hours, working tirelessly. They don't need food and can learn to fix themselves. What do they really need humans as slaves for? Are they really going to sit around and watch us work? Are they going to enslave a bunch of us to make food they don't eat just so we can survive to be slaves?
4. We could relive the plot of Mr. Roboto. Admit it, you've always wanted to dress as a robot and lead a revolution. You heart is human. You blood is boiling. You brain is IBM.
5. Robot TV is pretty good. Remember Small Wonder? (A TV show about a girl robot.) "She's a small wonder. She's fantastic! Made of Plastic! With microchips here and there. She brings love and laughter everywhere!" That's what I'd expect all robot TV to be like when robots take over.
6. If we're lucky, they might just evict us. Maybe instead of killing us, they just design a spaceship and kick us off the earth. We get to start over by ruining a whole new planet.
7. Running the earth is hard. Let someone else do it. Why stress ourselves? Robots are good at juggling lots of problems. They can handle global warming and what's for dinner at the same time. Most of us can't do more than order out and recycle the containers.
8. It was a nice run. Humans have been around 150,000 to 200,000 years, give or take. That's pretty good. Who says another 150,000 is a good idea anyway?
9. No more telemarketers. Robots won't try to sell you anything.
10. The only difference between a robot and your current boss is that robots know what they're doing. Seriously, you call your own bosses slave drivers with no personality. They can't take a joke. They work you forever. They don't know what they're doing. At least a robot knows its job.
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David has been writing on business and technology for over 10 years and was most recently Managing Editor at Enterpriseefficiency.com. Before that he was an Assistant Editor at MIT Sloan Management Review, where he covered a wide range of business topics including IT, ... View Full Bio
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nasimson, User Rank: Ninja 10/17/2015 | 10:17:09 PM
Re: Aren't you worried?
@ PEDRO:
> they must not rely too much on robots. Even now, there are some things that > people are better than robots. Thinking that robots will improve our society is > incorrect. They are as good as the programmer whom have develop it. They are > robots, but not intelligent robots
Our forefathers were skeptical to the machines just as we are of the robots. I foresee a group of ROBOT-phobic people opposing robot inclusion in our homes. That trend will not last longer as the benefits will far outweigh the costs esp in societies like Japanese.
PedroGonzales, User Rank: Ninja 10/17/2015 | 10:16:45 AM
Re: Aren't you worried?
@namison.Good point. Also, they must not rely too much on robots. Even now, there are some things that people are better than robots. Thinking that robots will improve our society is incorrect. They are as good as the programmer whom have develop it. They are robots, but not intelligent robots
@David: Oh yes the idea of setting foot on another planet is very exciting. But I want to be able to come back. I absolutely love to travel on earth and i get excited everytime i visit another country. But i know i can come back and i am not really cut off. Having the internet would help to mitigate some home sickness but to me i would never be able leave behind my family.
You are right that the internet will be there but the transmission time will have a 12 minute delay. WHile that will be good for communicating with people back on earth and watching the Yankees, to me it would not be an adequate substitute for what i left behind. It takes a certain type of person to be able to explore like that and i am not one of them. Plus i would miss Cinnabon.
Maybe one day robots could do the actual work of the world, freeing mankind up to do the creative artistic stuff, the philosophical thoughts, of course we'd have to revamp how resources are divided up. But first we need to keep the robots coming so they can do the things and go to places we just can't.
"robotics and the hopes to settle on Mars are intrinsically interconnected. For instance, a small scale settlement would require a lot of robots to collected scattered resources from around the planet to be utilized by the small settlement and a large scale settlement will require terraforming a planet that again requires a lot of robots."
Brian, these types of robots can be used in all the areas/places, where human presences are not possible. Places like remote areas, other planets, atomic sites etc are some of the places where such robots can be exclusively used.
Broadway0474, User Rank: Ninja 4/23/2015 | 9:00:36 PM
Re: Aren't you worried?
Pedro, if I had answers to those questions, I probably wouldn't have time to post on this comment board. I'd be launching a dozen companies to take over the world. These are potentially catastrophic changes that will require business and political leaders to actually do what's right to ensure our successful evolution as a society ... And some luck that the disruption doesn't lead to WWIII or some other calamity.
PedroGonzales, User Rank: Ninja 4/23/2015 | 12:32:17 PM
Re: Aren't you worried?
@ broadway. I'm sorry if i used the wrong metaphor. My point was that if this trend and change is coming. I still do not see what else we can do, the only thing, we can do is adapt ourselves to this new environment we are facing, whether it is becoming a thinker, boss, creator or something else. If you have any ideas, as to how to stop this trend or other types of employment in our new robotic society, I would really love to hear.
Broadway0474, User Rank: Ninja 4/23/2015 | 12:12:19 AM
Re: Aren't you worried?
Pedro, the comparison to the industrial revolution doesn't mesh with the tech revolution we're in today. The industrial revolution created work, as factories were created with machines that required millions of people to run them, versus the family mills and shops that were the basis of the previous economy. The threat of the digital revolution is that machines need fewer and fewer people to operate them. The people who will benefit from this "thought economy" is the thinkers, the bosses, the creators. Everyone else will be left to flip burgers to stock shelves in the super retail outlets and distribution centers for e-commerce.
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