| Robot Society 2 |
February 26, 2018
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| He thought about the possibility of a 'robot society'. Recent AI robot development was remarkable. Many experts would scare people saying that many of their jobs would be replaced by robots in the near future. But, he was not a type of person who believed the experts' opinions uncritically. So, he started to search and think about it by himself. First he thought about robots' strong points. 1. They don't get tired and work without rest 24 hours, 365 days. They can repeat the same thing many times without being bored. 2. Robots move precisely and don't make mistakes. 3. They can move faster than humans. 4. They can build very small things like computer chips. 5. They are made of strong materials like steel and glass fibers, so they keep a long time. 6. They are programed and/or they can move by themselves (AI). 7. They don't emit sweat, dust, etc. and are good for places which need cleanliness. 8. They are able to work in tough situations like no air, poisonous, high temperature, etc. 9. They can be any size ~big, small, tall, thin. 10. Robots don't complain, don't demand for a salary raise. So some employers might think that robots would have fewer risks. Then he thought about the types of robots and their future. [Robotic Arms] In factories, for example, a car factory, robotic arms are building parts, grabbing and turning the bodies and painting them. Computer chips (semiconductors) for computers, smartphones, and other  electric appliances, are made by robotic arms. Pharmaceutical, iron manufacturing, shipbuilding and other companies that make a lot of products, or many huge products use robots a lot. And more and more companies would surely use robots as the price goes down. But, he also read that in India robots introduction was slow because Indian workers' salaries are very low. On the other hand, in some aging countries, they tend to use robots because of labor shortages. [Cart type robots] With four wheels, a cart type of robot can get parcels from shelves and carry them to a conveyer belt or somewhere, like in an Amazon's warehouse. He saw it on YouTube. This thing would happen in other warehouses. [Auto Drive Cars] Auto drive experiments has been done for each major car maker. Maybe auto drive cars would be real in the not so far future, he thought. He also watched on the web that robot bulldozers flattened the land, robot forklifts dig the land and robot dump trucks move the dirt. Agriculture would be the next field that robots work actively ~planting, harvesting, watering, etc. [Drones] Like Amazon has experimented with, would drones fly and transport goods? He was doubtful. At least, in the city side, flying many parcels in the sky seemed weird. If it was in a tourism place, tourists would complain about it. If it was the place near a school, teachers would complain about the noise and being dangerous. [Others] Round shaped auto vacuuming robots were cleaning rooms in houses and factories throughout the world. In some buildings, security robots were guarding the inside of buildings. Robot dogs were sold as pets and became popular. Humanoid type of robots started to appear in show rooms, even at hotel counters. Robots could operate electric appliances after having the instructions given to them by human voices. They could reply to questions, and even give you advice if you wanted. One more thing, if a robot was not expensive, would many people want one? Maybe, in the case of a humanoid. They could help people both physically and mentally. For now, he stopped thinking and went to a barber shop to get his hair cut. He waited for his turn and naturally he thought, "How about barbers and beauticians?" Cutting hair seemed not to be so difficult, if the robot had some safety mechanisms for the scissors and razor. "If they work, maybe they would finish one person in five minutes or so, and I wouldn't need to wait like this." His turn came, and he sat down in front of the mirror. The barber asked about his preference, and he replied. He thought that if it was a robot, when he said "The same as usual," the robot would then cut his hair just the same as before. It seemed not to be interesting. The barber looked at him smiling and talked about the recent unusual weather. He replied accordingly. He thought that a high level robot could have this type of conversation. He saw another clerk who was sweeping the floor. It seemed easy. Another received a parcel from a postman and signed for it. This seemed difficult. His clerk took a hot towel from a steam box and shook it to lessen the heat and put it on his face. This seemed difficult. A different clerk was answering the phone and taking a memo. Another was laughing at a customer's bad joke. The other was ... He was amazed seeing humans' flexibility. If some strange smell happened, the workers would act according to the kind of smell. They might even have to evacuate the customers in an emergency. Customers know about this, so they let the worker do their job relaxed. Same as his. |
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*remarkable :顕著な
*scare :脅かす
*uncritically :無批判に
*emit :出す
*demand :要求する
*factory :工場
*semiconductor :半導体
*warehouse :倉庫
*preference :好み
*accordingly :合わせて
*flexibility :柔軟性
*evacuate :避難する
*same as his :彼も同様に