In our industrialized world, robots are very common in the work environment. Starting in the 1960s their usage spread quickly, especially in large production halls where they can undertake repetitive tasks more exactly and more efficiently than human workers. However, with the current advancements in the field of artificial intelligence, robots begin to transform from specialized tools to colleagues working alongside humans. These collaborative robots (co-bots) are able to fulfill increasingly complex duties like delivering materials from a warehouse directly to the human workers in a factory [1]. Others can take questions from customers and guide them to a special item in a store [2]. Despite concerns about their abilities and the worry of replacing a big number of employees, co-bots actually have a high potential to enrich the human workforce.
There are two main reasons for this statement. One of them are the enormous economic advantages co-bots will have for companies, their employees and also the whole country. Even more important, they will lead to higher human satisfaction, both on the job and in everyday life. This may seem contrary at first, given the uneasiness people seem to have when thinking about robots being a large part of our workforce [3] [4]. But in reality, there are many arguments in favor of these two points. Both will be discussed below in more detail.
The rise of intelligent robots will be beneficial to countries in multiple ways. While it may be the case that some easily automated professions disappear, there will also be lots of new jobs created. This is not something new, in fact it already happened many times in the past. Just over 100 years ago, being a coachman was a widely popular business. However, with automobiles becoming cheaper and more common with the general population, this profession largely ceased to exist. At the same time car companies needed new employees who could build, repair and sell their cars. These jobs created way more wealth than a coachman had had before. This development is very important for the growth of an economy and will also happen now with the growing number of robots at the workplace.
In addition to the advantages for the whole economy, there will also be direct benefits for companies. Robots typically lead to higher productivity with repetitive and straining tasks. Jennifer Riley, former Principal Research Associate of SA Technologies Inc., argues that “robots will provide the increased speed, repeatability, and accuracy that results in higher quality and consistently produced products” [5]. Furthermore, a wide variety of jobs seems to be undesirable for many human workers and therefore companies are urgently searching for employees. One example for this is the shortage of caregivers which gets more and more serious as the demographic change prevails. The solution to this problem could be co-bots, which are able to work in close proximity to humans and hence can support the remaining human carers [6].
Contrary to the widespread opinion of workplace robots being “job killers”, looking at the arguments above suggests the opposite. Human workers will immediately profit by the increased wealth of a growing economy. In all likelihood, the emergent occupations will be paid better because of their higher significance and more sophisticated job profile. Moreover, a number of products and services are going to become cheaper due to the fact that employers will not need to pay a human worker for simple or dangerous tasks.
Although enlarging economic vitality is an important part in arguing for more robots in our workforce, it is important to note that co-bots in particular could also lead on to considerably improved human satisfaction. Predominantly, this will become apparent in the workplace itself. Getting back to an earlier example of a co-bot in a store, the advantages are obvious. Guiding customers to specific items in a store is one of the more tedious tasks of a salesman. A co-bot can take this duty, giving its human colleague additional time for individual jobs like consulting or researching new products. These are generally preferred and are therefore raising job satisfaction.
The positive effects co-bots have on workers are also proven by a Swedish study, where researchers put a small transportation robot into a hospital environment [7]. This robot supported the staff by carrying blood samples to different buildings, 200 meters away. Previously, the workers had to do this by themselves multiple times a day. The results of the study illustrate that despite operating for merely five days, the staff developed a personal relationship with the robot. At the end of the study, one nurse stated that meeting it “feels good, almost like meeting a colleague”. It should be noted that for many workers the robot seemed alien at first and was met with scepsis. However, these doubts quickly vanished. Over the course of few days, another nurse even went from hating it to telling that the robot “is not just a machine”. These statements depict that co-bots can be valuable tools and boost the mood in the workplace at the same time.
Finally, co-bots can also contribute to higher human satisfaction outside of work. The “caregiver crisis” [6] has already been discussed above. However, one also has to think about the many families caring for ill or disabled relatives in their spare time because of the lack of affordable alternatives. A rather simple solution could consist in caregiving robots which would lessen the economical and personal burden of these people
This essay focused on the topic of how co-bots are going to enrich the human workforce by helping the economy and human satisfaction alike. They will be a financial blessing for workers, companies and even the whole country. Employees will enjoy them as useful tools, good colleagues and personal assistants.
The market for collaborative robots is growing rapidly. According to the International Federation of Robotics [8], the sales of professional service robots grew by 25% to 41,060 units in 2015. They project another 333,200 units for the period 2016-2019. In spite of these predictions and the recent technological advancements, a plethora of open questions remains: What is the optimal design for co-bots, should they look human- or cartoon-like? Is there a best communication strategy like voice based, text based or even nonverbal? In order to exploit the new robots’ full potential, these questions have to be answered quickly
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[2] M. Rohwetter, "Paul ist kein D-Zug," Die Zeit, vol. 2017, no. 1, p. 29, 2016.
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[8] International Federation of Robotics, "Executive Summary World Robotics 2016 Service Robots," 12 October 2016. [Online]. Available: http://www.ifr.org/index.php?id=59&df=Contents_WR_Service_Robots_2016.pdf. [Accessed 20 February 2017].
[9] S. Thrun, "Towards A Framework for Human-Robot Interaction," Computer Science Department at Stanford University, Stanford, 2003.
[10] W. Knight, "Are You Ready for a Robot Colleage?," MIT Technology Review, 28 September 2015. [Online]. Available: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/541676/are-you-ready-for-a-robot-colleague/. [Accessed 20 February 2017].
References not explicitly cited in the text were used for general information on the topic.