A robot, according to Webster’s dictionary, is “an automatic device that performs functions normally ascribed to humans or a machine in the form of a human.” 89years ago, when the Nobel Winning Czech playwright Karel Capek (1890-1938) first used the word “Robot” in his play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots), he probably didn’t think we would come this far in robot development. (University of Austin Texas, 2010) So how far have we come? We’ve gone from” ShadowArm” the robotic arm that picks up objects without breaking them, to “DARPA”the robotic car that drives through urban neighborhoods and traffic. Entertainment robots like Robosapien and Pleo are fast gaining popularity as are home assistants like Roomba (vacuum cleaner) and Scooba (pool cleaner). Perhaps the most noble of robots are in the medical industry and military. iRobot Corp. has developed Packbots and minesweepers for the army; these bots detect improvised explosive devices while the UAV (unmanned aerial vehicles) and Sword Robot have been implemented in aerial and ground combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. Robotics is also extending a lending hand in the medical field; from assisted medical surgery to prosthetics like Brain Gate that work with brain interfaces to RP7i which has enabled doctors to diagnose patients from remote locations and Myomo – a robotic elbow that helps with the rehabilitation of paralyzed patients. Honda has further emerged with a Humanoid robot which is a mirror image of humans in mechanical form of course, with the ability to walk and climb stairs just like humans. And then there is artificial intelligence, which dedicated to making intelligent machines that can actually think and not just think, scientist are drawing up blue prints to make intelligent robots who can upgrade themselves and increase their intelligence on their own!
With more and more executives realizing the lower cost and higher abilities of robots; where do we stand? Are robots going to replace us in the future? The answer is yes, but not just yet. As Robin Mckie quoted in his article, “The fact is we still have a way to go before real robots catch up with their science fiction counterparts,". Point is robots have potential but there are several issues that need to be addressed before we can declare that a robot nation is emerging. These include their ability to position themselves, socializing, exhibiting multiprocessing computing abilities and the ability to vision and process information like the human brain. (Mckie.R, 2010) According to Ronald Arkin, a robotics expert who is director of the Mobile Robot Laboratory at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, USA:
“It is almost impossible to predict when machines will become as clever as humans," he says. "That will depend on breakthroughs that still have to take place, and given that research in AI progresses in fits and starts, it is impossible to predict timescales accurately."
However, given that current robots can only do cumbersome and controlled activities and the intelligent bots aren’t close to replacing us anytime soon are we to dismiss the whole matter? The answer is No! The current status of AI development and Robots as whole has an impact on one major market – Manufacturing and automated industries. It mostly replaced unskilled labors who are involved in automated tasks that robots can now do much faster and cheaper. According to USA today, over the past 10 years investors have put up an estimated $100billion in installing industrial robots, and over the same period, roughly 10 million jobs have been lost in manufacturing. (lamb.G, 2004) The human cost is on the rise and the advice on the street is that people need to join the computer based knowledge economy. But with intelligent robots emerging even that advice sounds flawed.
On the bright side, Robots will eliminate the dirty, boring and dangerous jobs, improve quality and efficiency, as well as, reduce the cost of goods and services. According to Jeff Burnstein president of Robotic Industry Association (RIA), the growth of robotics industry will create financial gains for leaders and regional economic benefits as well; these will then translate in to new jobs at higher income brackets. (Saenz.A, 2010) Furthermore, robots will have maintenance and repair requirements that will be filled by obot technicians, salesmen, engineers, programmers and supervisors. And finally, a more revolutionized view of late, is stating that with robots doing all the work, humans will have lower costs to pay for and this will increase their standard of living and simultaneously open doors to entrepreneurship. As Aaron Saenz says, “Facebook and other social media are gearing up to provide (non-monetary?) Compensation (i.e. ‘points’) for their use, ‘gaming’ the system of advertisement. The creation of an Internet of Things could radically alter how consumers are expected to act, increasing their roles in design and marketing”. In other words, such developments will re-shape the way our economy operates.
In conclusion, we are fast approaching the robot age with rapid developments in artificial intelligence threatening our employment. However, as experts suggest, the advancements that we fear will come with time as there is still much research required. Hence, we have the advantage of time to conjure up solutions that will enable us to co-exist with robots that will better of living and transform the way we exist.
Ethical Evaluation:
With more and more executives realizing the lower cost and higher abilities of robots; where do we stand? Are robots going to replace us in the future? The answer is yes, but not just yet. As Robin Mckie quoted in his article, “The fact is we still have a way to go before real robots catch up with their science fiction counterparts,". Point is robots have potential but there are several issues that need to be addressed before we can declare that a robot nation is emerging. These include their ability to position themselves, socializing, exhibiting multiprocessing computing abilities and the ability to vision and process information like the human brain. (Mckie.R, 2010) According to Ronald Arkin, a robotics expert who is director of the Mobile Robot Laboratory at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, USA:
“It is almost impossible to predict when machines will become as clever as humans," he says. "That will depend on breakthroughs that still have to take place, and given that research in AI progresses in fits and starts, it is impossible to predict timescales accurately."
However, given that current robots can only do cumbersome and controlled activities and the intelligent bots aren’t close to replacing us anytime soon are we to dismiss the whole matter? The answer is No! The current status of AI development and Robots as whole has an impact on one major market – Manufacturing and automated industries. It mostly replaced unskilled labors who are involved in automated tasks that robots can now do much faster and cheaper. According to USA today, over the past 10 years investors have put up an estimated $100billion in installing industrial robots, and over the same period, roughly 10 million jobs have been lost in manufacturing. (lamb.G, 2004) The human cost is on the rise and the advice on the street is that people need to join the computer based knowledge economy. But with intelligent robots emerging even that advice sounds flawed.
On the bright side, Robots will eliminate the dirty, boring and dangerous jobs, improve quality and efficiency, as well as, reduce the cost of goods and services. According to Jeff Burnstein president of Robotic Industry Association (RIA), the growth of robotics industry will create financial gains for leaders and regional economic benefits as well; these will then translate in to new jobs at higher income brackets. (Saenz.A, 2010) Furthermore, robots will have maintenance and repair requirements that will be filled by obot technicians, salesmen, engineers, programmers and supervisors. And finally, a more revolutionized view of late, is stating that with robots doing all the work, humans will have lower costs to pay for and this will increase their standard of living and simultaneously open doors to entrepreneurship. As Aaron Saenz says, “Facebook and other social media are gearing up to provide (non-monetary?) Compensation (i.e. ‘points’) for their use, ‘gaming’ the system of advertisement. The creation of an Internet of Things could radically alter how consumers are expected to act, increasing their roles in design and marketing”. In other words, such developments will re-shape the way our economy operates.
In conclusion, we are fast approaching the robot age with rapid developments in artificial intelligence threatening our employment. However, as experts suggest, the advancements that we fear will come with time as there is still much research required. Hence, we have the advantage of time to conjure up solutions that will enable us to co-exist with robots that will better of living and transform the way we exist.
Ethical Evaluation:
- Kantianism: The first formulation is stating that “act only from moral rules that you can at the same time will to be universal moral laws”. The second formulation is about” act so that you always treat both yourself and other people as ends in themselves, and never only as a means to an end”.
- According to Kantianism, developer are creating Robot to improve the quality of human life, since that is fulfilling a universal duty to humanity, it is morally acceptable to create robots. Moreover, as per the second formulation, developers are using robots as a means to assist human life; hence it is in the best interests of humans and hence, does not violate the formulation.
- Act Utilitarianism: “An action is right (or wrong) to the extent that it increases (or decreases) the total happiness of the affected parties”.
- Implementing Robotics, will improve the standard of living, it will improve products, reduces costs, improve technological advances in multiple fields and open new avenues of employment. The negative side is that it may eliminate the morality in humanity and dent the social dynamics of the world. Overall, any party that implements robots will gain more; hence it is moral to implement them.
- Rule Utilitarianism: asserts that to act morally one is expected to abide by rules which generally promote the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
- Implementing robots will in general benefit everyone by improving living, improving costs of goods and services, creating advances in medicine and military and transforming the economy. On the other hand, it may create huge amount of unemployment, social and political unrest. However, as a whole, the world gains from the implementation of robots, hence implementing them is moral.
- Social Contract Theory: “Morality consists in the set of rules, governing how people are to treat one another that rational people will agree to accept, for their mutual benefit, one the condition that others follow those rules as well”.
- Overall, every individual has the negative right to experience the benefits of a better living through robotic advancements. They also have the positive right to expect developers and authorities to make robots that are not harmful. And have the absolute right to demand that the government protect their best interests when implementing robots.
