At this point, the genie is out of the bottle when it comes to automation in the workplace. It’s no longer a matter of “if” robots will take over human jobs, it’s only a matter of “when” and “how extensively”. Well, Boston Dynamics’ newest Atlas prototype has blown this question wide open once again.
An Evolving Labor Market
If you’ve been following the latest news coming out of BD’s lab, then you already know just how impressive humanoid robotics have become in recent years. While this development has been foreshadowed by decades of science fiction, the mass adoption of truly humanoid robots has largely remained locked behind the world of pop culture. After all, it’s hundreds of times easier to create a single machine to do a single task than to try and recreate the entirety of human ability.
However, we’re starting to see diminishing returns on specialized robots. Many of the tasks that were most in need of automation have already largely been automated, and the need for human workers in these spaces has taken a nosedive since the year 2000. While we’ve seen some gains in recent years, we’re still sitting around the same number of factory workers as we had in the 1940s.
At this point, factory work simply isn’t the kind of thing that humans are best suited for and there’s nothing wrong with that. The same trend happened when workers moved from agriculture to manufacturing and we still have plenty of farmers out there. We’re unlikely to reach a point where there’s no need for humans in the loop, but that line is getting blurrier every day.
More Human Than Human?
Enter Atlas, the next big thing from Boston Dynamics. Unlike the robots that you’ll find in factories, this one is just as mobile (arguably even more so) than your average human. So, what’s the goal here? To replace those last few humans still lingering on in factories? Maybe. Sort of. But, not really.
When you start thinking about robot design, the same question always comes up: “Why make it look like a human?” If you can build a machine that can do anything (possibly better than us), why limit it to a human form factor? We’re not the fastest or strongest species, surely there are better sources of inspiration than our relatively weak bodies.
To answer this, we need only look to the man who popularized humanoid robots in science fiction, Isaac Asimov. In his 1953 book “The Caves of Steel”, the roboticist Dr. Gerrigel is asked this exact question and his answer hits the nail square on the head.
“Because the human form is the most successful generalized form in all nature […] Besides that, our entire technology is based on the human form. An automobile, for instance, has its controls so made as to be grasped and manipulated most easily by human hands and feet.”
Here we see why humanoid robots are so valuable; adaptability. The more specialized a machine becomes, the less versatile it is. There’s nothing wrong with this for specialized industrial tasks; in fact, it’s largely ideal in that situation. However, for the bulk of day-to-day operations on a job site, there’s nothing quite like a skilled of hands. If we’re designing a robot that can be useful anywhere, it needs to be able to move through the world that we’ve spent thousands of years designing for humans.
There’s another point made a bit further on worth pointing out.
“The decision was made based on economics. […] If you were supervising a farm, would you care to build […] a reaper, a harrow, a milker, an automobile, and so on, each with a positronic brain; or would you rather have ordinary unbrained machinery with a single positronic robot to run them all. I warn you that the second alternative represents only a fiftieth or a hundredth the expense.”
And here we come to the real heart of the matter. If you’ve already got all the proper tools and equipment for a team of human workers, there’s no need to upgrade every part of your workshop to integrate robots if they have the same physical abilities as a human workforce. While there’s no replacing truly skilled labor, an extra set of hands is never a bad thing.
Big Step for Mankind, Small for the Robot
So, what’s the use case for these robots? At this stage, they’re still slower, smaller, and weaker than most humans but that’s only a matter of time. If history can teach us anything about changing technological landscapes it’s this: it’s not a battle of man vs machine but a battle of those workers who can best utilize these new tools vs those who cannot.
One thing often not discussed is these machines’ incredible potential for small business owners and tradesmen. Imagine a small-time carpenter who has been looking to expand but just can’t justify hiring a second person (at least not until they get the money from new jobs opened up by expanding). Well, a humanoid robot might just be the perfect solution. Unlike hiring a person, this is a one-time fixed expense more akin to buying a new tool.
What is also interesting is the comparison of the adaptation level of robotized machines and AI in everyday work environments. You would say that one goes without the other, but that was not the case for simple one task. It’s only now that we’re likely to see these two starting to fuse. Over 90% of developers have been using some form of AI help to build their projects, be it a simple task of creating an online questionnaire or something more complex – a full-blown page like https://fatfruit.net/ online casino. Granted, it would be a bit weird seeing a robot typing a code to a new roulette game in their cubical since you can use the AI “virtually” without having to physically embody it, but what we can expect is them maybe taking over a role of project manager, or a Q&A, testing the casino platform and checking it for bugs.
Much like how the mass adoption of the car more than century ago opened up new opportunities for would-be entrepreneurs to ply their trade in a whole new market, the coming wave of humanoid robot assistants could springboard something of a renascence for small-scale manufacturing and innovation.
A Brave New World
At this point, there’s no going back to a world without these machines. Over the next decade or so, these types of robots will start popping up in businesses of all stripes. The best thing that anyone can do to make sure that they’re not left in the dust is to learn to work with these new tools. (Linkhouse)
