But will they make humanity redundant?
Popular culture likes to portray robots as either helpful assistants or ruthless killers. A robot is a machine that automatically performs complicated tasks. The term first pops up in 1920 in the dystopian Czech play R.U.R, where assembly lines of workers are replaced and eventually exterminated by more efficient humanoid machines. It doesn't take long for robots to step out of the realm of fiction. In 1939, Electro causes a sensation at the World's Fair in New York. He's just a steel skeleton of gears with a motor wrapped in aluminium. Still, he feeds the public's growing fascination with robots. Most robot stories at the time are Frankenstein tales, where evil robots destroy their masters. So, in 1950, iconic sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov sets out a moral code for them, one that will influence how we think about robots for decades to come. Asimov's laws are fictional, but they inspire real-world engineers to create the first truly helpful robot. It can pour a whiskey, but it's more than a tin butler.
Faced with American's growing demand for more automobiles, in 1961, General Motors jumps on the potential of this new robot arm putting Unimates to work on the assembly line. Soon, the efficient robots are crowding factory floors all around the world. In 1966, Nokia first manufactures robotic arms for Scandinavia and Eastern Europe. Three years later, Kawasaki makes them for the Asian market. Europe soon follows. BMW, Mercedes-Benz, British Leyland Fiat all put them to work in their factories. But Japan really embraces the new technology. By 1981, 6,000 robots are working in car factories across Japan, compared to a mere 370 in the UK. Because of this, in the '80s, the British auto industry finds itself lagging far behind, unable to compete with the flood of cheaper-to-make Japanese imports.
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher is fascinated by Japanese robots, who work the line 24-7 without unionizing or going an strike. But with unemployment in the whole world hovering at 470 million, many workers see the robots as a threat to their livelihoods. But by 1983, the writing is on the wall. Animation opens a factory in the UK. Despite worker' fears, the robots actually do make the British automotive industry more competitive, creating more jobs. But these factory-floor robots are still largely blind, deaf and dumb, best suited to repetitive tasks on the assembly line. If robots are going to help humans with more complicated work, they'll need to start thinking for themselves. They'll need some sort of artificial intelligence. AI is software that can write itself, allowing computers to learn from data gathered in their environment.
Since the 1960s, researchers have been exploring the idea of a robot guided by AI software, who can think for itself, like the politely disobedient HAL 9000 from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. This dream first takes shape at the Stanford Research institute. Shakey's camera and bump sensors send signals to its computer brain over in the next room, allowing the robot to deal with unpredictable circumstances. It's all still a bit shaky, but the robot's program is a milestone in artificial intelligence, a platform on which future, more complex algorithms will be built.
By the 1990s, computers become far more powerful, and AI gets smarter. IBM develops Deep Blue, a supercomputer, teaching it to play chess. In 1997, Deep Blue challenges grand master Garry Kasparov, the Michael Jordan of Chess. It's a landmark moment. A human has been out-thought by a computer. And those computers are getting smarter by the minute, because the amount of transistors being squeezed onto microchips roughly doubles every two years, exponentially increasing their speed and capacity. Think of it this way. Imagine a car traveling at five miles per hour that doubles its speed every minute. It's traveling at ten miles per hour after one minute. At 40 miles per hour after three minutes. But after 27 minutes, it's traveling at 671,088,640 miles per hour. Just a fraction faster than the speed of light. Three minutes at that speed would get it to Mars. That is the pace at which computing power starts growing throughout the '80s and '90s ( MOORE'S LAW ).
By the late '90s, computing power is compact enough that artificial intelligence programs can be installed in robots. It's a huge development. Robots now have decision-making abilities and can take on more complicated tasks too dangerous for humans. On July 4th, 1997, in one giant leap for robot-kind, self-driving rover Sojourner goes where no human has gone before, Mars. With the aid of AI, Sojourner navigates across the rocky Martian terrain for three months, taking samples and sending back 550 photos. Similar AI-driven rovers prove indispensable on Earth. Defusing bombs in war zones. Saving lives from Kosovo to Afghanistan. AI also helps flying vehicles, such as drones, navigate long distances, allowing them to react to any changing environment. In Rwanda, where road infrasturcture is limited, drones deliver blood banks to hard-to-reach places. While some drones save lives, others do the opposite.
On October 7th, 2001, just after the 9/11 attacks, the American military uses a missile-carrying Predator drone against the Taliban commander in Afghanistan, debuting a new form of robot warfare. But while some robots being acting as assassins, others become valued companions, especially in Japan. It's an attitude deeply rooted in Japanese religion. According to the ancient Shinto teachings, man-made objects can contain human spirits, which helps explain why Japanese technicians have been using AI to develop friendlier, more responsive robots.
Robots like Asimo, first developed by Honda in 2000, are designed to help humans tackle the loneliness of modern life. In 2013, Toyota's humanoid robot, Kirobo, is launched up to the International Space Station to keep his astronaut friend company. They spend 18 months in orbit together and share everything. Despite having AI, robots like Kirobo don't have feelings the way robots in movies do. But they can teach humans to better understand emotions. Robots can help children with autism, teaching them how to recognise and express emotional responses. Humans all over the world are increasingly turning ti intelligent robots for emotional support.
Japan leads the way, with over 300,000 companion robots, twenty times more than in the UK. Robots are helping to care for the elderly. Teaching and playing with children. And filling in for absent parents. Auto mated companions are also replacing the need for human spouses. Since 2016, over 3,700 men in Japan have chosen to shun human bonds and instead have married robotic holograms. New synthetic materials start allowing designers to create extraordinarily lifelike robots that use AI to engage in conversation. But others stay focused on more practical uses for intelligent robots.
In November 2005, 23 cars line up in the Mojave Desert for a 132-mile race. Not one of them has a driver. Stanley, Stanford Racing Team's VW, takes first place. Sebastian Thrun goes on to work for Google, turning the mundane family car into a robot. Soon, Tesla and Uber start pouring millions into developing self-driving cars, competing for their share of the budding market. In December 2018, Google's Waymo cautiously rolls out its self-driving taxi service. People are now paying for robot rides. It's a watershed moment. For the first time, humans are actually putting their lives in the hands of robots on the road.
So how do these cars work?
LIDAR gives the vehicle a 360-degree view. It also sees the world in 3D, day or night. Radar and ultrasonic sensors tell the car how far away other vehicles are and how fast they're going. Cameras read traffic lights and road signs. A computer analyses all the data and makes split-second decisions. The AI programs controlling these cars need millions of driving hours to train. They aren't perfect but robot cars may end up being better at driving humans than humans are at driving themselves. By 2030, there will likely be some 20 million autonomous vehicles in operation in the US alone. The roads may be safer, but for the 3.5 million American truckers, driverless vehicles spell trouble. Their jobs are in jeopardy. And they're not the only ones.
AI automation is coming to Wall Street. The number of people working in finance around the world is expected to drop by up to 1.7 million over the next ten years. Traditional traders are no match for AI, capable of analysing vast amounts of data.
The robots seem to be coming for everyone's jobs. And as they become better at navigating our world, the prospect of putting advanced intelligence programs inside them seems more and more unsetting. After all, an increasing number of robots carry weapons.
In 2018, a former employee reveals that the US military is developing AI software to pilot their drones, allowing them to identify targets on their own, faster. The US Navy has already announced the development of a robot warship, designed to cruise for months without a crew, hunting enemy submarines. The US Army has tasted self-driving tanks. But such autonomous killing machines may not be able to differentiate between subtle human behaviours putting people at grave risk. For now, robots and humans are working side by side. Yet technologists do seem to be in a race to create robots that can surpass us, even at the very things that make us uniquely human.
How much everyday human function do we want to outsource to robots? And what happens when the AI controlling our robots begins to outsmart us?
This hypothetical tipping point is known as "THE SINGULARITY."
Reaching the Technological Singularity may be humanity's greatest and last invention.
Such concepts may seem far-fetched, but so were robot butlers in 1940. When AI does outsmart us and robots take on more human function, will we lose our purpose?
How will we cope with this new world order? And who will be in control?
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