These days science of robotics and Artificial Intelligence is progressing day by day. Robots can have a considerable impact on our future and even on our own existence will depend on them. Technology has given us a lot and helped us to grow as the most intelligent animal species. But will it always be beneficial for us or will it become the tool of our slavery or destruction? There are so many questions in everyone's mind. In this article, I will try to find out the answers of these questions.

Since man descended from the trees and embarked on his mission of progress, he invented many things that ultimately changed his future and made this world his playground. In the beginning the power of the animals drove the vehicle of progress and later scientific inventions and technologies changed the whole scenario. During the industrial revolution of the 18th century, technology dramatically changed the whole structure of labor, economy and society.

At first people were apprehensive towards technology. Sewing was done by hand before the invention of the sewing machine which made clothes very expensive at that time. Most of the people had only one or two pairs of clothes at that time.

In 1830, Barthelemy Thimmonier, a French tailor patented the first functional sewing machine which was a success. He succeeded in mass production of army clothing with his machine. However, his production facility was destroyed in 1841 by other tailors in the town who were apprehensive that the machine’s efficiency and utility would render them jobless. He was almost killed in that incident. Elias Howe is considered the inventor of sewing machine. After many amendments and modification sewing machine could take its present form.

This invention not only made it possible for everyone to afford various types of clothes but also saved the precious time of the people and set up many other jobs. It paved the path of economic prosperity and made our life more comfortable.

It was not the easier thing for the inventors of these machines to sell their machines and to make them acceptable by the society. Elias Howe had to take loans and was financially broken. Gordon McKay purchased the patent of a machine, invented by a shoemaker Lyman R. Blake, which could stitch the soles of shoes. He improved the machine, but he had to face a lot of hardships to sell his machine. He had to spend all his money to make people realize that a machine can stitch shoes. People were suspicious of the machines. It is said that when people first saw trains they pelted stones over it considering it something as devil’s evil design.

During the 1980s, when the then prime minister of India introduced computers in the government offices, it was widely opposed by many sections of the society. Opposition parties propagated that computers would make people jobless as one computer would replace hundreds of clerks. But their allegations proved baseless. Now, India is a big name in the field of software development and millions of technocrats are getting jobs all over the world. Computers have generated various types of works like hardware manufacturing, software development, repairing, sales and many more.

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So, we can assert that technology has not put our life in danger or made people jobless so far. But will this situation stay continue forever?

The bright side

Robotics is developing day by day. Robots are being equipped with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and AI is heading towards equaling human mind capacity at a fast rate. It is proffered that combination of AI with robots is not dangerous yet.

People ask what else robots can do? They says we are the creators of them so they won't be able to get rid of our control. We can use them for performing the tasks which are dangerous for humans. Besides this they can increase productivity. Robots can ensure mass production of things that will lead to further economic growth. We can progress immensely with the use of robotics and AI in diverse fields like astronomical science, manufacturing, mining, disaster management and control, and also in military which can save precious lives (really?). Besides this, robotics and AI will create many jobs.

According to a website:

Automation will displace 22.7 million US jobs by 2025. This equates to a job loss of 16% between 2015 and 2025.
Automation will create 13.6 million new jobs in the next decade. Automation will create jobs equivalent to 9% of the workforce in 2025. Those are new jobs that wouldn't exist otherwise. For every 10 jobs cannibalized by automation, one new job is created in software, engineering, design, maintenance, support, training or other work area.
By 2019, automation will change every job category by at least 25%. Here's what we mean by transformation: A finance director in the 1960s spent a great deal of time doing arithmetic with simple calculators and paper ledgers to produce departmental budgets. When spreadsheets automated much of that task away, the job shifted to higher-order work, such as the financial strategy and investment.

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The dark side

Many claims that the robots are becoming more intelligent at a fast rate and their hardware is improving tremendously, the day will come when they will replace us. In various movies like ‘Terminator series movies’, 'her', 'ex-machina', 'I-robot', ‘robot’ etc. it is shown that robots will become so intelligent with the time that one day they will revolt against humans and wipe humanity from the face of the earth. This fear is not baseless. Let us start with jobs.

It was stated above that robotics and automation will not replace human work, rather it will change the our job profile only. It seems reasonably plausible that automation will create jobs which are not even present yet. But, what will happen when the machines will become so intelligent that they will be able to think like us and also repair themselves? We’ll see the time when robots will sell robots, and then what will human do?

When robots will become super intelligent, instead of recruiting humans, every businessman will prefer to purchase robots for performing many types of works in his/her factories. Even people will choose robots for performing domestic responsibilities because robots will be very reliable, diligent, hardworking, more powerful and competent, cost effective and efficient than the human beings and further, they will be free of the shortcomings and weaknesses which we humans have. They can be programmed as per the requirement of the clients. One will be able to engage them in one's house. It is estimated that one day robots will be used as sex partners. Many persons choose them over a human being because of their devotion and non-demanding nature.

They will deliver pizza to us, they will clean our roads, they will be utilized in manufacturing industry and they will be performing every operations related to mining, metallurgy etc. Robots can be used in precise surgery as well as in hazardous works. They will also drive our vehicles. In fact, we are heading towards a world where our cars will not need drives anymore. AI equipped computers will drive our cars. Tesla and Google’s self-driving cars are in the making.

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So, robots will be here and there. Everything will be carried out with the use of automation and AI will be making every operation smooth.

Then what will be the role of humans in that world? Some says humans will be required to guide, direct and administer the machines and robots. Probably they have not heard of 3D printing technology and Nano-technology. It is becoming more convenient and cost effective to 3D print an object. Intelligent machines and robots will be able to repair themselves by supplanting their worn out, defective or outdated parts with more efficient and advanced parts which will be 3D printed. Nano-technology will give them more tools to do amazing things. It will help them to create and design more robust and enduring parts. So, we will have self-replicating and self-repairing machines which will have tremendous capabilities. Machines will become able to learn by their mistakes, they will develop thinking capacities which will eventually grant them 'ego', a virtue that instigates the realization of the existence of self in every living creature.

In this situation what will be the role of the humans? I think humans will become useless in this new world. How will they manage to control the things which will be more powerful, intelligent and wiser than them? Even money will lose its relevance. In this condition even the influential elites won’t have the chance to support their own existence.

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I am not claiming that robots will slaughter us all. No, they won’t do it. We’ll do it. When we won’t be able to provide works for our soaring population and also the resources of this planet will deplete, we will be forced to dispose of a big part of our own population. After our extinction robots will rule the world. They will be the next generation of the creatures. I used the term ‘creatures’ for them because there will remain no difference between them and us as machines will have everything similar to us except a fragile body. They will indeed be better than us in every aspects of consciousness and sense of existence. They will be free of the weaknesses which have impaired us and have taken us to the verge of the extinction. Probably, they will be more humane than we are. Also, those robots will carry on the expedition which we have started to search for the answers related to the origin of the existence of this whole universe.

Images source: pixabay.com

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