Up to 20 million manufacturing jobs will be lost globally to robots by 2030, a study has found. But it is not going to stop there. Sooner rather than later, robotics and AI are going to be working and living beside us humans. Here are some current day examples where they have already started work that you may not have noticed.
- Robot waiters are already here among us
Singapore’s Koufu has smart tray return robots, while China’s Haidilao not only has robot waiters but it also has a robot-run kitchen that was a project with Japanese electronics giant Panasonic.
2. Robots taking over delivery services
The demand for food delivery services during the current pandemic fueled growth and employment, but will it continue to be this way?
A robot in the US is already taking over such delivery services.
Kiwibot by Sodexo has been delivering masks, antibacterial gel and hygiene products to the communities of Berkley and Denver during the Covid-19 crisis. Now, at the University of Denver, students, faculty and staff can easily order from designated restaurants. The Kiwibots are sanitized between deliveries so the health and safety of both the students ordering food and the teams preparing food is guaranteed through reduced human contact.
Not to forget the many projects involving delivery drones or unmanned aerial vehicle/pilotless aircraft that are also in the works to provide airborne deliveries.
3. They are taking over as supervisors
Robots are watching over hotel housekeeping staff, telling them which room to clean and tracking how quickly they do it. Sounds incredulous to you? Well, it is already happening at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown says a news report.
Housekeepers have to follow assignments given to them on the app, known in-house as “Rex”. So it really seems that “Rex” is calling the shots and giving orders around this hotel.
4. Robots are running things on their own
Foxconn is producing Apple devices and iPhone components at a factory in Shenzhen without any human workers. Mobile phone parts in the southern Chinese metropolis are being manufactured in a fully automated plant staffed by 5G-powered robots.
But it does not just end there. Japanese start-up Mujin had in 2018 showcased a humanless warehouse that is run only by robots. The 40,000-sq-m facility operated by JD.com in Shanghai is equipped with 20 industrial robots that pick, transfer and pack packages, while there are other robots that cart merchandise around to loading docks and trucks.
5. Robots are writing and even reading the news to us
So besides running things for us, what is next you say. They get to tell us what is important is our lives now.
While we have a world leader that is spewing fake news, having a highly intelligent and logical robot tell us what is important would seem more appealing.
Enter “Xin Xiaomeng” a female robotic news anchor by China’s Xinhua state news agency.
‘She’ was created by Xinhua in collaboration with search engine Sogou, after the two companies experimented with AI-driven journalism.
And in other parts of the world, Forbes uses an A.I. tool called Bertie to assist in providing reporters with first drafts and templates for news stories. The Washington Post also has a robot reporting program called Heliograf. In its first year, it produced approximately 850 articles and earned The Post an award for its “Excellence in Use of Bots” from its work on the 2016 election coverage.
Today, robots are already taking over jobs, giving out orders, telling us what is important. So it looks to be that job losses to robots are just the beginning.
Will they eventually take over and run our lives? What do you think?
By Editorial Team / November 23, 2020
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