Some analysts have estimated that by 2045, robots will be able to perform every job humans can. But does that actually mean that human beings are doomed to be replaced and brought to financial ruin by machines?
Not really. In fact, there's increasing evidence that the future may actually lie in a more advanced form of cooperation between people and robots.
These "collaborative robots" are already being used in a variety of industries with rapid growth, the technology publication
IHS Engineering 360 reports.
Increasingly, industry has managed to develop robots that are user-friendly and easy to operate by people who do not have extensive technical knowledge.
Since 2011, the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory has used a robot nicknamed "Rosie" as part of an ongoing project to develop robots that can work more effectively alongside humans. The robot has hands that are able "to perform complex or delicate tasks such as folding towels or picking up an aluminum can without crushing it," IHS Engineering 360 reported.
Rosie is being trained to anticipate and react to human movement while using sensors to prevent collisions.
The global automation firm
Festo has also developed collaborative robots, including the Robotino XT. It includes a flexible robotic arm developed for use in industrial settings.
Another Festo design called the
"LearningGripper" resembles a human hand with four “fingers" that can be trained to grip and rotate an object.
IHS Technology reported that the industrial machinery market — including robots used in manufacturing — doubled in 2014. It is expected to reach $2 trillion worldwide by 2018.
There is even the possibility that fleets of self-driving vehicles can be deployed. For now, the inability to regulate the speed of machine-driven vehicles has created an obstacle to developing cars that can be driven by robots.
"These cars aren't yet capable of safely operating at all speeds and in all conditions, so there's a role for both car and driver as co-pilots," one expert said.
But in the future he predicts that "there will cease to be a collaboration with humans as self-driving technology improves and the person becomes more of a passenger."
The notion "that humans can now work safely side-by-side with a robot employee is both intriguing and groundbreaking," said Jeff Burnstein, president of the Association for Advancing Automation. "Collaborative robots have an innate ability to both fascinate and empower humans."
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