The Robots Are Coming

Sorry that your newsletter is a day late. Yesterday was a travelling day for me. Today though, we are going to look at the world of AI paired with robotics, and what a fascinating world it is. For most of us, humanoid robots, until now, the stuff of science fiction, will be near term surprises. Soon they’ll be everywhere. Let’s dive in…

The future is here, and it’s artificial. A strange phrase, not really that welcoming, but very accurate. AI and robots are set to permeate industry after industry, transforming how we work and live. I’d like to give a sense of how these humanoid robots will impact our lives and work in the near future.

Firstly, an industry that is both near to my heart and crying out for this revolution: construction. It’s long been talked about but now seems a reality in the making. Construction sites will hum with mechanical assistants laboring tirelessly alongside their human counterparts. It’s very possible that the entire construction process could be transformed by humanoid robots driven by AI. Let’s just say that this is something I look forward to and welcome. Imagine what a robot like this could be trained to do on a construction site:

Similarly, medical robots will lend a steady hand during even the most delicate procedures. There are already surgical procedures that are carried out by robots. Care and companionship could be supplied in a similar fashion. In a time when getting human workers to perform certain tasks is proving difficult, will health providers baulk at using well trained humanoid equivalents? Not for long I think.

Customer service bots will charm in hotel lobbies and shop floors. They will clean and they will welcome and do everything in between. This is the imminent reality.

Yet we ought not panic about some dystopian machine takeover. This AI revolution is as much about empowering people as it is about creating capable robots. The Amazon workforce already thrives in harmony with over 750,000 robot colleagues. These automated helpers liberate human workers from dull warehousing tasks, enabling greater creativity and innovation elsewhere. Likewise, creatives across all industries will benefit from robotic collaboration. As will day to day tasks that are repetitive at work and around the house.

Education reform will ensure society is ready to flourish in this increasingly automated, AI-powered future. Robotics and AI will soon sit firmly alongside the three R’s in school curriculums, furnishing young minds with the digital skills essential for technological collaboration. Reskilling programs will aid those already in the workforce with transitioning to integrated tech-human roles. Leadership courses will also equip managers with strategies for overseeing blended human-robot teams. All of this seems far off and yet it is coming much sooner than you think. Society will have to adapt, because many jobs will be lost and many dreams broken as a result of this revolution. It will not be great for all, that is the unfortunate reality and society will need to look after those that are disenfranchised.

Appropriate regulation remains paramount if we are to oversee the ethical and equitable emergence of thinking machines into the workforce. Guidelines guarding against biases hidden within supposedly neutral AI algorithms will be crucial. Managing disruption and job losses within industries undergoing automation will be another vital challenge for policy makers globally. And navigating the philosophical complexities sparked by advancing machine intelligence will necessitate informed policy debates.

If we chart the right regulatory course and embrace this AI augmented revolution through skill-building, cooperation between artificial assistants and their organic overseers could trigger an innovation boom lifting humanity to new heights. We stand on the cusp of a pioneering new era defined by possibility. The machines are here to help – let’s welcome them as our partners.