Robots and The Future

Hey guys! I figured most, if not all people (that translates as the small trickle of humans who actually read this) are pretty bored hearing about my life and how depressing it is; everyone hates me; life sucks etc. so I’ve decided to sway off that topic. Instead I’ll just talk about interesting stuff that’s worth writing about (i.e. not my life).

So this time I have decided to talk about robots. I recently heard about a study put together by some wacky professor somewhere in the world* that stated very soon most occupations will be performed by robots, who will live alongside humans. This is a slightly unsettling thought as without jobs, how can society function? Although the worlds trading system (money) is often less from perfect, it is workable and usable. Other countries cooperate and work together on exchange rates, people have banking systems and we use it to buy stuff. Imagine where the world would be without money (bearing in mind that everything else would be exactly the same). We would have no clothes, food, shelter, electricity, belongings and, for quite a few including myself, a very different education (which basically means private school kids going to public schools). See, in order for this whole robot-replaces-people-in-jobs thing to work the world would have to come up with a completely new trading system. For example, the Chinese, a long time ago (and we’re talking, like, BC here) used to use shells as a monetary replacement. Which is all good and well, but over half the world don’t even live near the sea, and would struggle to find shells! Of course, there’s always good old I-want-that-you-can-have-this form of trade, but it does get a bit tedious and can lead to hostility. In some cultures (and we’re still BC here) they used plants to trade for other stuff, but with global warming will there be any plants left to trade?

Which leads me onto my next point, the planet. We all know the drill with this global warming stuff… use less electricity, save the planet, plant trees etc. but we also all know that robots aren’t made up of DNA and flesh and bone, and powered by protein and cytoplasms, but powered by electricity. Oh wait, I forgot, we can use solar power!

Oh wait, I forgot, no we can’t.

In theory, solar power is a cute idea, but in practice it wouldn’t work. Think about it. Indoor jobs (office work, banking, medicine, school, cooking and so on) are done INDOORS (hence the name indoor job) where the Sun DOES NOT SHINE. What about night jobs? Security guards, for example, need to work through the night, when the Sun DOES NOT SHINE. Or what about in countries where the Sun simply DOES NOT SHINE, like England. And believe me, I lived there, and I promise you the Sun DOES NOT SHINE.

Ok, you can have PV solar panels that work indoors, but they’re not as effective as actual sunlight.

My last point against this idea is the personal side. I don’t know about you guys, but I do enjoy having an actual human being with some emotion teaching me. Imagine having a robot guidance counsellor… it defeats the whole point! Or, another example, I really like my Physics teacher. Ok, it’s partly because Physics is my best subject, but also she’s really nice. She can change things and explain things in different ways that suit an individual person. I’m absolutely certain you can program a robot to do that, but it’s still not the same as an actual person.

Another profession were it’s nice to talk to an actual human being is medicine. I like be sure of everything, therefore if a human with emotion like you or I, and with advanced medical knowledge (unlike you and I, unless of course a medical professional is reading my blog, sorry to be unaware of you) can do that, I feel much more reassured and grateful. And believe me, my family has had their fair share plus more of medical mishaps.

Anyway, that’s just my views on Robots and The Future. I hope it gave you guys some food for thought. I’d love to hear what you think! Leave a comment or subscribe:)

*If this particular professor happens to stumble across my feeble blog… I’m sure you’re not wacky but in fact very intellectual and academic. Sorry…

‘The danger of the past was that men would become slaves. The danger of the future is that men may become robots.’

Erich Fromm