Domo Arigato, Mr Roboto
We’ve all seen films like Blade Runner or Star Wars where robots have taken over a lot of the mundane work that humans don’t really like to do and even some of the work that we still want. It’s no longer a sci-fi future that’s too far off. Since our social distancing orders, robots have taken over previously human-held dons as room service delivery “people” and robotic concierges. Some people watch sci-fi films like this and get completely swept up by the idea that robots are going to take over the world and become our mechanical overlords. Panic and paranoia set in, and they say a hearty “no thank you” to Alexa and Siri.
There is a lot of debate about whether a future like that will ever arrive, of course. There’s also a lot of discussion about whether replacing humans with robots in the workplace is ethical. Given that humans need jobs to make money to survive. We’ve given the matter some thought, and we believe that specific questions, like who the croupiers of the future will be, can only be answered by time. Some positions, however, have already clearly begun to be tailored for robotic employees. Let’s take a look at which jobs might be filled by robots in the future.
Customer Service
This, as we mentioned earlier on, is already happening in some industries in a number of ways. Some hotels were forced to get creative while human beings were not allowed within a few feet of each other, and in some cases, that creativity led to jobs being taken over by robots. This trend extends to receptionists as well. Whether the human touch is still needed or preferred in a position like this remains debatable. Receptionists often work pushing hours and must sometimes stand all day; robots do not grow fatigued in the same way that humans do, so this would be no issue for a robotic employee.
In less physical examples, many customer care lines now employ fewer human representatives and have adopted a “robot” representative to fill the gap. Naturally, AI or robotic representatives can only take things so far with the current level of technology, and for trickier questions, you might still have to speak to a human…for now. Chatbots are also used to facilitate a number of internal service positions in businesses, leaving human employees free to deal with the more complicated issues.
Wait Staff
Some restaurants have already begun jumping onto this trend, especially in tech-savvy places like China and Japan. Having meals brought out by robots is another way that some hotels managed to survive and even thrive when social distancing rules were in full effect. Though this technology is currently quite costly, the better we get at making it, the less costly and more widely available it will become. Restaurateurs won’t have to worry about servers calling in sick or for a personal day, and customers won’t have to worry about tipping! The only thing necessary to keep your business running smoothly will be regular, scheduled maintenance. This is an area of great concern for many people as a huge percentage of the human population was a server at some point in their lives, if not permanently. This future is probably a long way off, but it’s something to think about.
Data Entry, Bookkeeping, and ProofReading.
While it’s not exactly a “robot” in the way we traditionally perceive them, programs such as Grammarly are already taking some of the human aspects out of jobs like editing and proofreading. The same can be said of bookkeeping and accounting programs that use specific formulas to ensure that your accounting is always up to date. Human error is eradicated from the process entirely! Some of these programs have more detailed features (like rephrasing sentences, in the case of Grammarly) available in Beta formats, but the human mind is still far superior in creativity!
Manufacturing and Pharmaceuticals
In this particular case, the future is now for a lot of factories. This is the most likely sector that robotics and AI will take over completely and where a lot of humans currently fear losing work as this process has already begun. Most manufacturing processes have already been mechanized, at least to a degree and depending on the product, with some aspects being handled entirely human-free. Robots currently operate side by side with pharmacists in labs, handling some of the more monotonous or dangerous tasks.
Wrap Up
In some of these cases and the many other sectors where robots are taking hold; the future could be a lot sooner than we think! Whether the further introduction of robots of all shapes and sizes into the workforce will help or harm us remains to be seen. Only time will tell!
