Top Human Jobs That AI and Robots Can Take Over
Overview
Robotics and artificial intelligence are reshaping many industries and businesses. Read about industries that are now using robots in their production and other sectors that rely on this cutting-edge technology.
Last August 14 in Dubai, a video that went rapidly viral on the internet showed an 8-foot tall robot named Titan walking closely behind a man who later identified as the Chief of Staff of the Bahrain Defense Force. The scene was from the 2019 Abu Dhabi International Defense Exhibition, an event that showcased the latest defense technologies and equipment. While Titan was designed primarily as a multi-lingual “greeter” robot during the convention, one can only imagine how its inventors can weaponries it and transform in into a Robot Soldier. The 2020 exhibition is expected to feature at least 150 new robots that perform a variety of tasks that will be of interest to military and law enforcement agencies from around the world.
In the coming years, Dubai Police is expected to fully integrate the artificial intelligence (AI) and Robot Police technology in daily law enforcement operations in the emirate. This initiative will provide the police organization in the UAE an alternative way to serve and protect its citizens. Aside from its public safety applications, the police robot will serve as a mobile public warning device and an interactive information source.
As early as 2007, a team of Japanese robotics experts had already developed a way to program beginner to advanced violin lessons into software that was loaded to a robot. This machine had 17 metallic joints on its hands and arms which enabled it to mimic human dexterity, control, and coordination. This development was achieved at the same time that the robotics team produced a mobility robot that can be used for personal transport.
From being talking hosts in a public gathering to doing police duties or playing music — more and more robots are replicating human skills at progressively advanced levels. What other fields of work or labor can AI and robotics overtake? Here are a few occupations that may soon be dominated by machines that can independently think and move:
Automotive Manufacturing
The automotive manufacturing industry is one of the pioneers in the use of robotics. The heavy parts of a car made it natural for the owners and engineers to look for an alternative to human labor at the assembly line. Given the inherent hazards of a car assembly line, many workers encounter injuries that vary in severity, but all entail costs to the company both in terms of medical and rehabilitative expenses, but also in legal fees when a case goes into litigation if a worker decides to sue. The development of robotic arms that can handle precision assembly with almost zero errors made robots the logical choice for this business. In the US today, robots take up at least 38% of the workload alongside human workers in car assembly factories.
Electronics
Another industry that requires the use of high-precision robotics is in electronics. The almost microscopic scale of parts and components in computer boards, chip sets, and other integrated electronics makes the use of a robot a necessity to maintaining quality products in this industry. At least 15% of the work output in the electronics industry is produced by robots.
Plastics and Chemicals
The toxic and other hazardous materials used in the plastics and chemical production companies highlight the need for the use of robots. To protect human workers from specific production-related dangers, robots are deployed to select, mix, and process chemicals that would otherwise cause serious harm to people when inhaled or if they come into contact with the materials. Ten percent of the plastics and chemicals developed for public or commercial use were made using robots.
Metal Manufacturing
Metal works are also labor-intensive and prone to human error. The production of steel frames, iron bars, alloys, and curved metallic parts also need zero-error precision that only a robot controlled by a computer can do. Around seven percent of all metallic products are fashioned through the use of heavy-industry robotics.
Research shows that from the year 1993 to 2007, US companies began to use at least one robot for every 1,000 human workers. While that number is still relatively low, industry analysts and futurists predict that the ratio will increase in favor of AI-enabled robots who will be more robust, autonomic, and faster than the current series of robots deployed in the various sectors of business and industry.
Just last July 2020, it was announced that an all-robot shop called RoboCafe will be opened in Dubai, yet another innovation in robotics that began in the rich emirate. The coffee shop will have robot order-takers, robot coffee and food production workers, et, of course, robot servers.
Conclusio
This early, it is already evident that AI and robotics have dominated many heavy industries. Today, it is also taking over retail shops and restaurants. Surely, these types of technologies will also reshape military operations in many countries. Indeed, robots and AI are about to take over to reshape how we live, work, play, and live our daily lives.
