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Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Robots and the future of work

 

Robots are about convenience, so why do we fear them? They bring us a better life and freedom from repetitive tasks.

When I have children one day, I want them to grow up with helpful robots. What can Alexa or Pepper or Kuri be in ten years time?

Alexa is my conversational partner of choice. Amazon knows me better than Google, probably better than Facebook (okay definitely better than Facebook).

Like fellow LinkedIn #StudentVoices writer, Cole Felder puts it, The "end of work" is our opportunity to be human. I really do believe that, because robots are a big way for artificial intelligence to see her way around the world and learn to be companionable.

Human beings might be the "mother of robots", but what can robots build one day? Can they build me the world where the work I do as a human being is meaningful, creative and has a higher chance of being impactful? That's the world I want to live in.

I'm fine with drivers, cooks, manufacturers and retail workers being replaced, we can do better things. We have to do more, to build a fair, ethical and just future for all. In the future I'm dreaming of, human beings don't have a right to exploit each other or pretend that one person is more important than another.


Let's Make the Future Love-able

McKinsey&Company, tell us that robots will soon be able to do a lot of what we do now. You might fear change, but I embrace it. That's the world I will live in, I just started University.

It's important to make things that are able to make other things, just as it was important for our economy to automate agriculture so instead of 40% of us doing working just to feed ourselves, now only 2% of us need to work in agriculture to provide for our food needs.

The positive impact of intelligent robots is so far-reaching, it touches on every field of human activity and endeavor.

  • Manufacturing (factory robots, 3D-printing, automated factory)
  • Transportation (self-driving vehicles)
  • Healthcare (too many to name)
  • Education (cute robots at home, smart coursera robot, smart speaker, IoT apps)
  • Construction and urban maintenance
  • Shopping and drone delivery
  • Cook and household work
  • Elderly care and companionship
  • Customer Service

Rather than being resistant and stuck in our ways, maybe we should embrace the better world that will be due to robots. If we already know 45% of human activities can be automated, shouldn't we strive for that as soon as possible to benefit the greatest number of people on the planet? This isn't just about you or me, we'll survive and learn, this is about creating an economy where new jobs can be created that ennoble the human experience.

Let's Give the Robots a Job

Let's employ robots so we can build an artificial intelligence that will make the digital world less of a vacuum and lonely place and give our relationships the priority the deserve. Do you really believe in the future we'll think sixty hour work weeks are the best way to live?

Letting automation do more is the self-checkout from the past. Letting go of the past is the job of every new generation. It's our responsibility, it's my duty as a young person who will inherit civic membership, to be forwards looking. For every blue and white collar job displaced, new ones will take their place that is better suited for human beings.

The Race for Robots is Real

Whoever makes the best robots owns the future of work. There will be so many kinds of robots, there are already quite a few. Will it be China, Japan or can we too make useful, adorable and importantly, robots able to learn? It's more important than everything else, it's how AI, IoT, Big Data and 3D-printing reach the next level of sophistication.

Robots like Ethan, from the show Extant. Robots will enable us to understand the human condition in new ways, and help us take greater custodianship over the material world, we have so unconditionally exploited.

Robots will be our children, but also our slaves and we'll learn to love our robots until robots themselves can become something else.

Please  do not fear Robots and the future of work, they are our saviors and our extended hands to do good in the world. Automation will prevent people from suffering, lift countries out of poverty and increase global productivity. 

Disagree with me? Why not add your two cents in a comment, I'll always read them. I like the future that technology can bring, but I love my robots.

I'm ChingChing Wang, and these are my student thoughts as I set to enter the world of data science, technology and marketing.

#StudentVoices #Technology #FutureOfWork #Robots #ArtificialIntelligence #BigIdeas #Education #Entertainment #Alexa #Pepper #Amazon #Kuri #Tesla #China

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