The Future of Robots in Our Workplaces

by Lucas Hutchinson

There are many things that will change as we evolve as a species. Whether these will be for a positive cause, or negative cause towards our society, this is up for argument. I will discuss the down sides and up sides of including machines/ robots in every factory or product producing company.

There are several positive used and reasons for using robots in our daily lives. One of these uses could be in the industry of manufacturing. “The machines are capable of making just over three times as much product than human labour can make in twenty four hours.” This is partially due to the fact that the robots can work all round the clock (the full twenty four hours). Another reason is that ‘human error’ will be out of the question. There will not be any product which will be classified as ‘faulty’ or ‘unworthy of sale’ and there will therefore be more product being created. This will also relieve a lot of stress for the managers of the companies, as the workers will not need as much instructing and guidance. It would make the lives of leaders of companies increasingly undemanding.

However, there are also numerous negative reasons for allowing robots into our lifestyle. One of these is the fact that they could force many people out of their jobs. Before, factories were made up of humans, coming to work to earn money. This option will be out of the question if robots will be the next thing we turn to in production. Another negative impact that if one of the machines breaks, then the whole line will be out of business until the broken machine gets fixed. This could cause the line to be out of service for a great amount of time. This could cause a great loss for the company and the countries wishing to buy the product.

The question which we will always have to take into account is: will the robots find a way to break free and take over? We don’t know if this can happen and will only know when and if it does. If this does take place, then this will be an obvious mistake, and we will have to secure the fact that it won’t be able to happen while designing and building these machines. To add to that, will humans be able to use these machines as a productive asset? “We are looking at a society increasingly dependent on machines, yet decreasingly capable of making or even using them effectively.” Maybe Douglas Rushkoff has a point. Maybe we are not ready to introduce robots into the industry as our reliant. Maybe we aren’t as educated as we can be on this life changing topic. Yet, on the positive side, this idea could very easily boost the evolution of the world and move the human race onto a more effective and more advanced civilisation. This could unlock new possibilities for new design, new product and new creation.

Overall, there are pros and cons of introducing robots onto all of our production lines. These will all need to be looked at and assessed before we take the giant step. I believe that this is a superb idea and will open up increasing amounts of possibilities for our race. However, I will only believe this if precautions will be taken, prior to putting this in place. Changes will be made. Only, the question is when?