In the near future, humans will increasingly rely on robots to manage agriculture, infrastructure, transportation, healthcare, manufacturing and security. Advanced human-robot interaction will transform industries and change the way we think about the workforce. Telepresence robots like Beam, Vgo, and the iRobot Ava 500 will extend workforce robotics into the white-collar world, allowing workers to be physically present in two places at once and much more. And who knows what will happen as IBM’s Watson Robot finishes medical school? Will the robotic takeover of jobs help us become the best versions of ourselves, or lead to a depressing idleness that is economic, as much as emotional? Drawing from the lessons from automotive and manufacturing industries, do we have a responsibility to workers and ourselves to ensure the ongoing productivity of humanity? Can we keep humanity from turning into WALL-E? Part of the IEEE Technology for Humanity Series.
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