![]() Here are a few things that robots can’t do: But if all of this talk about robot capabilities gives one pause, especially upon contemplation that this is only the beginning, it might be helpful to add in some counter-considerations. A company called Narrative Science currently offers a subscription-based service called Quill that is designed to turn data into “human-sounding narratives.” Stories with a lot of numerical analysis (think business or sports, for instance) are especially suited to the robot mind the average reader might never notice the difference. But it’s not just the background for stories that can be autonomously produced it’s the writing itself. Along the same lines, searching for instances of a phrase or concept within hundreds of documents – a practice common at law firms – can be done by a robot with nary a complaint. Yes, even the job of producing an article like this one can be done by a robot – especially the aspects of it that involve poring through data to produce research. ![]() But the technology to build lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS) is in sight, and whether or not the standards will stand up to advancements in robot technology is uncertain. Under Geneva Conventions standards, military robots cannot be fully autonomous, i.e., they must include human input at certain intervention points. Unmanned vehicles can perform reconnaissance and surveillance on air, land and sea can locate and defuse bombs - and, increasingly, can engage in combat. They are also able to track indicators of dementia exhibited by the patients they serve. Humanoid robots are finding their ways into nursing homes, reminding residents when to take their medications, taking vitals and offering the ability to videoconference with friends, family and health care providers. In that last category, one can include Pepper - a humanoid robot designed with an ability to read human emotions and adapt its behavior to match. There are robot bartenders that know how to make every drink ever recorded, robot pharmacists that may do a better job of checking for prescription drug interactions, and human-shaped robot greeters that can welcome and inform customers as they walk through the doors of a business. They can also be used for horticultural tasks like pruning, weeding and spraying and for livestock tasks like shearing sheep, milking cows and even castrating bulls. Robots are well-suited to the labor-intensive tasks of farming, such as harvesting crops. They can also be used to deliver packages with door-to-door service and, of course, they can work around the clock without ever getting tired. Compared to human workers, whom they often work alongside, they are able to haul heavier packages, pack inventory more tightly, and reduce handling time. Robots represent a significant segment of the warehouse workforce in marketplace organizations like Amazon. Robot vacuums like iRobot’s Roomba have been around for some time, but the ranks of the autonomous cleaning brigade have expanded to include robot floor-scrubbers, gutter cleaners, pool cleaners and even a self-cleaning litter box. ![]() ![]() Here’s a list of seven things that robots can do – along with a few that they can’t. Image credit: .īut in reality, robots – many of which look nothing like humans – are present in many sectors of industry, and they possess capabilities that often eclipse those of their flesh-and-blood counterparts. Despite this long history, however, it may still come as a surprise to see just how far the technology has come many of us encounter robots primarily in science-fiction, where humanoid friends or foes serve as assistants (think C-3PO) or arch-nemeses (think Skynet and the T-800).Īmazon uses robots as warehouse workers. Archimedes, a Greek mathematician who died in the third century B.C., invented many of the mechanical systems used in robotics today. As a concept, robots – machines capable of autonomously carrying out tasks – have been around since at least the time of the ancient Greeks.
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