Production of Humanoid ROBOTS

Agility Robotics will produce 10,000 humanoid robots per year at its new facility in Salem at 4698 Truax Dr. S.E once it reaches maximum production capacity. The robots, known as Digit, will work alongside human workers helping to augment the workforce and to relieve humans of dull, dirty, and dangerous tasks, the company said (Submitted by Agility Robotics)




By the end of the year, a new humanoid robotics factory in southeast Salem will begin producing its newest machines that are capable of performing repetitive tasks in warehouses.

Agility Robotics’ RoboFab 70,000 square foot facility at 4698 Truax Dr. S.E. opened in late 2023 and will serve as the manufacturing hub for the growing company, which eventually plans to mass produce the robots.

Amazon is already testing the humanoid robots, which are called Digit and sold in fleets controlled by cloud-based software, at a facility near Seattle. Agility hopes the robots will help augment the human workforce, help companies deal with labor shortages, and improve the quality of life for human workers.  READ MORE...

Work Revolutionized by ROBOTS

In 2015, Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum, asserted that we were on the brink of a “Fourth Industrial Revolution,” one powered by a fusion of technologies, such as advanced robotics, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things.

“[This revolution] will fundamentally alter the way we live, work, and relate to one another,” wrote Schwab in an essay published in Foreign Affairs. “In its scale, scope, and complexity, the transformation will be unlike anything humankind has experienced before.”

The recent surge of developments in AI and robotics — and their deployment into the workforce — seems right in line with his predictions, although almost ten years on.

“We see a future where 

general-purpose robots are 

as ubiquitous as cars, 

helping people to do work 

that needs doing.”

GEORDIE ROSE

While robots have been in factories for decades, they’ve traditionally been purpose-built to automate just one task — a robotic arm might be added to the assembly line at an auto factory to weld two parts together over and over again, for example Humanoids are robots that mimic the size, shape, and capabilities of people. That would make them a perfect physical fit for any workspace.         READ MORE...

Robot Driving Car

A team of roboticists at the University of Tokyo has taken a new approach to autonomous driving—instead of automating the entire car, simply put a robot in the driver's seat. The group built a robot capable of driving a car and tested it on a real-world track. They also published a paper describing their efforts on the arXiv preprint server.


Virtually all efforts to build a self-driving car have focused on making the car itself autonomous—humans sit in the passenger seat or in the back. These efforts involve adding a host of sensors in addition to processing power. They have also been met with mixed results.

In this new effort, the research team wondered if it might not be easier and cheaper simply to build a robot that can be taught how to drive a car and put it in the driver's seat of a normal vehicle. To find out if that might be possible, they built such a robot and tested it on a track at the University of Tokyo's Kashiwa Campus.     READ MORE...

100 Robots Serve Customers

Imagine a unique Starbucks that features about 100 robots serving orders for customers.

This happens for real, day in and day out, at Naver 1784 tower, the world’s largest robotics testbed, and also the headquarters of South Korean technology firm Naver.

The numerical digit 1784 signifies the site’s lot number address, 178-4, and also the year marking the beginning of the first industrial revolution.

The tower is a proving ground for the company’s advancements in robotics, artificial intelligence, and cloud services, showcasing Naver’s dedication to transforming ideas into tangible solutions.

According to Naver, 1784 redesigns how we live and work and claims that its “advanced technologies are embedded into the building to provide a better work environment, bringing us one step closer to the future,” according to the firm’s website.     READ MORE...

Understanding Humanoid Robots

Robots made their stage debut the day after New Year’s 1921. More than half-a-century before the world caught its first glimpse of George Lucas’ droids, a small army of silvery humanoids took to the stages of the First Czechoslovak Republic. They were, for all intents and purposes, humanoids: two arms, two legs, a head — the whole shebang.

Karel Čapek’s play, R.U.R (Rossumovi Univerzální Roboti), was a hit. It was translated into dozens of languages and played across Europe and North America. The work’s lasting legacy, however, was its introduction of the word “robot.” The meaning of the term has evolved a good bit in the intervening century, as Čapek’s robots were more organic than machine.

Decades of science fiction have, however, ensured that the public image of robots hasn’t strayed too far from its origins. For many, the humanoid form is still the platonic robot ideal — it’s just that the state of technology hasn’t caught up to that vision. Earlier this week, Nvidia held its own on-stage robot parade at its GTC developer conference, as CEO Jensen Huang was flanked by images of a half-dozen humanoids.  READ MORE...

Robots Do Housework

As someone who quite enjoys the Zen of tidying up, I was only too happy to grab a dustpan and brush and sweep up some beans spilled on a tabletop while visiting the Toyota Research Lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts last year. The chore was more challenging than usual because I had to do it using a teleoperated pair of robotic arms with two-fingered pincers for hands.


As I sat before the table, using a pair of controllers like bike handles with extra buttons and levers, I could feel the sensation of grabbing solid items, and also sense their heft as I lifted them, but it still took some getting used to.


After several minutes tidying, I continued my tour of the lab and forgot about my brief stint as a teacher of robots. A few days later, Toyota sent me a video of the robot I’d operated sweeping up a similar mess on its own, using what it had learned from my demonstrations combined with a few more demos and several more hours of practice sweeping inside a simulated world.  READ MORE...

UPS to Use 3,000 Robots in Warehouse

United Parcel Service just opened its largest warehouse, a sweeping 20-acre facility on the outskirts of Louisville, Kentucky. But don’t expect the break room to get too crowded.

The package-handling giant plans to fill the $79 million facility with more than 3,000 robots by the end of next year to handle tasks like lifting and reduce the need for manual labor. That level of automation means UPS can run the warehouse with about 200 workers, which are expected to increase over time.   READ MORE...

Robot in the Cockpit

While the concept of automotive “autopilots” are still in their infancy, pretty much any aircraft larger than an ultralight will have some mechanism to at least hold a fixed course and altitude. Typically the autopilot system is built into the airplane’s controls, but this new system replaces the pilot themselves in a manner reminiscent of the movie Airplane.

The robot pilot, known as PIBOT, uses both AI and robotics technology to fly the airplane without altering the aircraft. Unlike a normal autopilot system, this one can be fed the aircraft’s manuals in natural language, understand them, and use that information to fly the airplane. That includes operating any of the aircraft’s cockpit controls, not just the control column and pedal assembly. Supposedly, the autopilot can handle everything from takeoff to landing, and operate capably during heavy turbulence.

The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) research team that built the machine hopes that it will pave the way for more advanced autopilot systems, and although this one has only been tested in simulators so far it shows enormous promise, and even has certain capabilities that go far beyond human pilots’ abilities including the ability to remember a much wider variety of charts. The team also hopes to eventually migrate the technology to the land, especially military vehicles, although we’ve seen how challenging that can be already.

Posted in Robots Hacks, Transportation Hacks

Tagged airplane, artificial intelligence, Autopilot, aviation, ChatGPT, robot, robotics

Robots Learn By Watching Videos

Are you among those who often dream of a day when a robot will do all the everyday household chores for you? A team of researchers from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) has figured out how to turn your dream into reality.

In their latest study, they proposed a model that allowed them to train robots to do household tasks by showing them videos of people doing ordinary activities in their homes, like picking up the phone, opening a drawer, etc.

So far, scientists have been training robots by physically showing them how a task is done or training them for weeks in a simulated environment. Both these methods take a lot of time and resources and often fail.

The CMU team claims that their proposed model, Visual-Robotics Bridge (VRB), how can make a robot learn a task in just 25 minutes, and that too without involving any humans or simulated environment.

This work could drastically improve the way robots are trained and “could enable robots to learn from the vast amount of internet and YouTube videos available," said Shikhar Bahl, one of the study authors and a Ph.D. student at CMU’s School of Computer Science.

Robots have learned to watch and learn
VRB is an advanced version of WHIRL (In-the-Wild Human Imitating Robot Learning), a model that researchers used previously to train robots.  READ MORE...

Faster Than A Human Construction Crew

California-based startup Built Robotics has unveiled a huge autonomous construction robot that speeds up the creation of utility-scale solar farms — accelerating the transition to a clean energy future and making workers safer, too.

The challenge: Electricity generation is responsible for more than 30% of the US’s carbon emissions, so transitioning the grid away from fossil fuels and toward renewables, such as solar, is essential to combating climate change. Not only that, we’ll need to generate a lot more electricity as we increasingly electrify cars, machines, and industry.

To meet the demands of the future, automation is gonna be key in the construction world.

JUSTIN RUSSELL

Constructing a utility-scale solar farm is a major undertaking, though: once a company goes through the potentially years-long process of finding a site and securing permits, it can still take another couple of years to build the solar farm.


Moreover, as solar panels have gotten dramatically cheaper, an increasingly large share of the cost of solar power is coming from things other than the panels themselves, like construction and labor. If we’re going to keep pushing the price of solar down, we’ll have to get more productive at those things, too.

The construction robot: Built Robotics has now unveiled RPD 35, an autonomous construction robot that accelerates an important part of building a utility-scale solar farm: installing solar piles.

These heavy steel beams are about 15 feet long, and during solar farm construction, they’re driven about eight feet into the ground — the part of the pile that remains exposed then serves as the foundation for a solar array.  READ MORE...

Hummoid Robots

Humanoid robots are advanced robots that are designed to look and move like humans. They are often equipped with sensors and cameras that allow them to recognize human faces and emotions, respond to voice commands and carry out conversations. Humanoid robots can be programmed to perform a wide range of tasks, such as assisting humans in daily activities, working in manufacturing plants, providing healthcare services, and performing search and rescue operations in hazardous environments.

Compared to conventional robots, humanoid robots provide a number of benefits. One of their main advantages is that they can communicate with people in a more intuitive and natural way. They are, therefore, ideal for fields like education, healthcare and customer service, where human interaction is crucial.

Humanoid robots have a lot of potential, but they are still in the early phases of development and have many obstacles to overcome. One of the biggest issues is their high price, which prevents many businesses and individuals from using them. Furthermore, the creation of humanoid robots demands highly developed engineering abilities as well as expertise in a variety of disciplines, including robotics, artificial intelligence and materials science.

Here are advanced humanoid robots in the world to know.

Atlas
Developed by Boston Dynamics, Atlas is a 1.8-meter-tall humanoid robot designed to perform tasks in rough terrain. It is capable of walking on uneven surfaces and can lift heavy weights. Its advanced capabilities enable it to navigate through difficult terrains and debris to locate and rescue people.

The Atlas robot is appropriate for use in industrial settings since it can move large objects and carry out jobs that are hazardous for people. It is capable of performing precise and accurate assembly lines, welding and painting jobs.

Asimo
Developed by Honda, Asimo is a humanoid robot that is designed to perform tasks like running, walking and climbing stairs. It has advanced sensors that allow it to navigate through complex environments.

Asimo has been used extensively in the fields of research, education and engineering to study human physiology, robotics engineering and human-robot interaction. Researchers now have a better understanding of how to create robots that interact with people in a more intuitive and natural way.  READ MORE...

Robots Taking Over Jobs by 2025

There are two sides to this coin: Robots and AI will take some jobs away from humans — but they will also create new ones. Since 2000, robots and automation systems have slowly phased out many manufacturing jobs — 1.7 million of them. On the flip side, it’s predicted that AI will create 97 million new jobs by 2025.

WILL ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) REPLACE JOBS?
AI is and will continue to replace some jobs. Workers in industries ranging from healthcare to agriculture and industrial sectors can all expect to see disruptions in hiring due to AI. But demand for workers, especially in robotics and software engineering, are expected to rise thanks to AI.

Some people don’t see it both ways. For example, Sean Chou, former CEO of AI startup Catalytic, thinks robots are stupid —and he’s not alone in his frank assessment.

“All you have to do is type in ‘YouTube robot fail,’” Chou said.

Don’t misunderstand, though; it isn’t that the machines aren’t rising. It’s that they’re rising much more slowly than some of the more breathless media coverage might have you believe — which is great news for most of those who think robots and other AI-powered technology will soon steal their jobs. “Most of” being the operative words.

Types of Jobs AI Will Impact
The consensus among many experts is that a number of professions will be totally automated in the next five to 10 years. A group of senior-level tech executives who comprise the Forbes Technology Council named 15: insurance underwriting, warehouse and manufacturing jobs, customer service, research and data entry, long haul trucking and a somewhat disconcertingly broad category titled “Any Tasks That Can Be Learned.”

HOW MANY JOBS WILL AI REPLACE?
According to the World Economic Forum's "The Future of Jobs Report 2020," AI is expected to replace 85 million jobs worldwide by 2025. Though that sounds scary, the report goes on to say that it will also create 97 million new jobs in that same timeframe.

Kai-Fu Lee, AI expert and CEO of Sinovation Ventures, wrote in a 2018 essay that 50 percent of all jobs will be automated by AI within 15 years.

“Accountants, factory workers, truckers, paralegals, and radiologists — just to name a few — will be confronted by a disruption akin to that faced by farmers during the Industrial Revolution,” Lee wrote.

When considering those developments and predictions, and based on multiple studies — by the McKinsey Global Institute, Oxford University and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, among others — there is massive and unavoidable change afoot. Research suggests that both specially trained workers and blue-collar workers will be impacted by the continued implementation of AI.

Developments in generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Bard have raised questions about if AI will replace jobs that involve writing. While it’s unlikely that AI will ever match the authentic creativity of humans, it is already being used as a catalyst for writing ideas and assisting with repetitive content creation.  READ MORE...

Robots That Learn Like Humans

In recent years, numerous reports have appeared in the media expressing concern and even fear about robots and artificial intelligence: fear that robots are going to steal our jobs (minister Asscher in 2014), and fear that artificial intelligence will eclipse and endanger human beings (physicist Stephen Hawking and entrepreneur Elon Musk). At the same time, we also witnessed impressive videos of robots, such as the one created by the American company Boston Dynamics: Big Dog robot walking up a slope in the snow, and the humanoid, two-legged robot Atlas that jumps over obstacles and does a back flip.

In the past decade, robots have indeed become better at learning new tasks, an essential part of intelligence. Robots are much better at perceiving their environment, which has led to smarter robot arms and which has also given the development of autonomous vehicles a powerful boost. It’s only when robots also manage to handle unstructured environments and unforeseen circumstances that we’ll be able to integrate them into all aspects of our daily lives.

Nevertheless, robots still have much less of a learning capacity of than humans. Humans are more flexible, learn from fewer examples and are able to learn a large number of tasks, from learning a new language to skiing.

It’s much more difficult teaching robots to learn than computers

But how has robotics actually evolved, and what are the most recent developments? Professor of Intelligent Control and Robotics at the Department of Cognitive Robotics at TU Delft’s 3mE Faculty is studying how robots can improve their learning ability.

‘Some robot videos are first and foremost PR videos,’ says Babuska. ‘What they show you is their robot performing a certain stunt once. But they don’t show all the times that the robot fell over. And that stunt will only succeed if the environment is carefully prepared. If you place a beam in a different position and dim the light a bit, then the robot will fall over. The videos will have you believe that a certain problem has been solved, but that’s nonsense. What you see can’t be generalised to other circumstances.’

What would need to happen to give the general public a more realistic impression?

‘As roboticists,’ says Babuska, ‘we have to be more honest about what robots can and cannot do. There’s too much overselling, often more so in the US than in Europe. Every time we speak to journalists or give a lecture, we have to clarify how complex it is to get a robot to operate well in the world. I also believe there’s too much fear. But drones can do so many useful things.’

‘The same is true for robots on the ground. There are so many challenges in society that robots can help to solve. There’s still so much boring, dirty and dangerous work that we’re better off giving to robots. Few labours who work in construction or scaffolding make it to retirement without wearing out their backs. Or look at people in the food industry who perform the same tasks all day long in a temperature of seven degrees. That sounds more like something from 1900 than 2020. I want to help ensure that robots can aid us with these kinds of tasks.’

‘My main focus is on robots that learn how to move efficiently,’ says Babuska. ‘It makes no difference to me whether it concerns walking, driving, sailing, flying or gripping and moving objects. I research fairly general techniques that can be used in several applications instead of just one specific application.’

When the deep learning revolution unfolded, it was soon apparent that roboticists weren’t going to be able to simply take an image recognition algorithm from a computer and transfer it to a robot and expect it to work well. A robot is more than a computer; it’s a computer linked to a physical body. A robot has physical interaction with its environment. ‘A moving robot keeps seeing the world a little differently. And it has to make real-time decisions that are also precise and reliable. If a robot makes a mistake, then it’s a lot more costly in the physical world than in the virtual world. These are all aspects that complicate efforts to teach robots to learn well.’  READ MORE...

Artificial Intelligence and Robots

 

1. What is AI?

Artificial intelligence or AI simulates human intellect to machines. AI-enabled machines are capable of performing specific tasks better than humans and mimic human actions. There are four types of AI:Reactive machines: This is the most superficial level of AI. Reactive machines can do basic operations. 

They cannot form memories or use past experiences to make decisions. IBM’s Deep Blue is the perfect example of this type of machine. This AI beat international grandmaster Garry Kasparov in 1997.Limited memory: This AI type can store existing data and create better output by using the data. For example, Tesla’s self-driving cars observe the speed of vehicles and direction and act accordingly.Theory of mind: Theory of mind can connect with human thoughts and interpret them better. 

The AI can understand people and have thoughts and emotions of its own. These AI machines are still hypothetical, but researchers are making many efforts to develop such AI machines.Self-aware AI: This type of AI is a thing of the future. A self-aware AI will have an independent intelligence, and it will make its own decisions. These machines will be smarter than the human mind.

2. What is Machine Learning?
Machine Learning is a discipline within artificial intelligence where systems can learn from past data, identify patterns, detect anomalies, and make decisions with minimal human intervention. Once the system has learned from the past data, it can provide an inference based on the new input parameters.

There are primarily three different types of machine learning, namely:

2.1 Supervised Learning
Learning takes place from the training dataset under supervision. The input and output data are known for the training data, and the learning process establishes a relationship between them.

2.2 Unsupervised Learning
The corresponding output variables for a set of input variables are not established in unsupervised learning. Algorithms such as clustering and association are designed to model the data’s underlying structure or distribution to learn more about them.2.3 Reinforced Learning

Reinforcement learning employs trial and error methods to come up with a solution and gets either rewards or penalties for the actions it performs. Reinforcement learning is the most effective way to hint at a machine’s creativity.

3. What is a robot?
A robot is a machine that is capable of carrying out specific tasks automatically. It can replicate human efforts and provide better outcomes.

There are five types of robots:

• Pre-programmed robots: Pre-programmed robots can perform simple tasks. A mechanical arm used for welding in the automotive industry is an example of a pre-programmed robot.
• Humanoid robots: These robots can perform human-like activities. They look like humans and mimic human actions. Hanson Robotics’ Sophia is a perfect example of humanoid robots.
• Teleoperated robots: Humans control these robots. They perform tasks in extreme conditions where humans cannot operate. Human-controlled submarines or drones are examples of teleoperated robots.
• Autonomous robots: These are independent robots that do not require human intervention. They carry out tasks on their own. A perfect example would be the Roomba vacuum cleaner. It uses sensors to roam throughout a home freely.
• Augmenting robots: Augmenting robots enhance human capabilities by replacing the ineffective part. Some examples of augmenting robots are prosthetic limbs or exoskeletons.  READ MORE...

Job Automation Risks

The Great Resignation led businesses everywhere to face dire labor shortages, from retail to the supply chain and logistics industries enabling them. The figures are bleak, with 40% of workers in 31 global markets quitting in record numbers. Despite over 75 million Americans being hired in 2021, nearly 70 million still quit. (Deloitte, 2022) This then begs the question: is the job loss that the University of Oxford in 2013 finally coming true? Perhaps not.

Americans quit their jobs due to low pay, the lack of opportunities for advancement, and feeling disrespected (Parker & Juliana Menasce Horowitz, 2022). Whereas the University of Oxford, in their study, The Future of Employment: How Susceptible Are Jobs to Computerisation? predicted the job loss will be due to computerization and automation. (Frey & Osborne, 2013). Records so far show that workers are leaving on their own accord, not forced out because of robots, machine learning, and automation.

But we cannot deny that automation is here to stay. So, in the face of these developments, does the original prediction still hold? Are our jobs really under threat from automation?

The Oxford study has been challenged, critiqued, and scrutinized for possible gaps many times over. In 2018, its authors themselves even said this study only tackles one aspect of work and cannot determine how many jobs will be automated or if other factors will come into play. While automation is indeed taking over certain human tasks, the World Economic Forum says how people handle the change will determine its impact. That task now is not to protect occupations that computers can do better, but to train the workforce for future work. (Advaithi, 2022) As such, people must be trained to succeed in this new environment.  READ MORE...

Pipebots to Stop Leaks

Around three billion litres of water are lost through leaks across hundreds of thousands of miles of water pipe in England and Wales daily, says water industry economic regulator Ofwat.  Engineers have now developed miniature robots to patrol the pipe network, check for faults and prevent leaks.  They say maintaining the network will be "impossible" without robotics.  Water industry body Water UK told BBC News that companies were already "investing billions" in leakage.

But a recent Ofwat report pointed to a lack of investment by water companies. It named several that it said were "letting down customers and the environment" by not spending enough on improvements. Water UK responded saying that leakage was at "its lowest level since privatisation".

Leaks are a widespread and complicated problem: Across the UK, hundreds of thousands of kilometres of pipe - of varying age and in varying condition - supply millions of properties with water.

Colin Day from Essex and Suffolk Water said: "In [this region] alone, we look after more than 8,500km (5,282 miles) of pipe and only about half the leaks in those pipes are visible, which means it's complicated to pinpoint where [the rest] are."

Wasted water has been a particularly sensitive issue this year. According to Water UK, three companies - South East Water, South West Water, and Yorkshire Water - still have localised hosepipe bans in place following the summer drought. And, amid the cost of living crisis, Ofwat estimates 20% of customers in England and Wales struggle to pay their water bill.  In the last year, though, according to Ofwat, companies have reduced leakage by an average of about 6%.

The industry has committed to a government target of halving the amount of water lost by 2050. Water UK accepted that progress needed to "accelerate". "We're adopting the latest technology, including special in-pipe cameras; satellite imaging; thermal drone technology, high-tech probes, and artificial intelligence," it told BBC News.  READ MORE...

Robots Impacting the Food You Eat

 

Robots Will Change the USA

In 2030, robots could be exploring alien worlds and performing surgeries from halfway around the globe. Robotics is one of the fastest evolving fields of technology, and it’s shaping the future of travel, work and exploration. 

Peripheral advancements in AI, computing and IoT are helping elevate things even further. Robotics holds some exciting innovations that will play a central role in daily life worldwide.

Transportation
Few technologies in recent history have been as highly anticipated as autonomous vehicles. Ambitious scientists and engineers have pursued self-driving car technology for centuries. 

In fact, in the 1500s, Leonardo Da Vinci designed a cart that could move on its own. DARPA’s autonomous vehicle challenge in the 2000s sparked a wave of modern R&D surrounding self-driving autos.

Self-driving cars get smarter every year, yet they remain rare on the roads in the 2020s. What makes robotic transportation a challenge is AI computing and human randomness. 

Robots work best with structured, predictable data. Human behavior is never certain. Today’s autonomous vehicle researchers are developing AI models that can accurately and consistently respond to obstacles on the road, especially pedestrians.

Throughout the 2020s, this unique robotics niche may finally get “over the hump” and go mainstream. Tesla has blazed a trail for rudimentary autonomous vehicle tech with its autopilot mode. 

This developed public policy to regulate self-driving cars and increased public adoption. Other leading self-driving car companies are making substantial headway, as well. Waymo began operating its autonomous taxi service in Phoenix in 2020. In 2022, the company announced it would be removing test drivers from the vehicles.

In the 2030s, robot-powered vehicles may be on the road in major cities worldwide. These cars will make travel more accessible, reduce emissions and improve policing behaviors.  READ MORE...

Robots Replace 800 Million Jobs by 2030

CNBC REPORTS

A new report released by McKinsey & Company indicates that by 2030, as many as 800 million workers worldwide could be replaced at work by robots.

The study found that in more advanced economies like the U.S. and Germany, up to one-third of the 2030 workforce may need to learn new skills and find new work. In economies like China’s, roughly 12 percent of workers may need to switch occupations by 2030.


The report also provides insight into the industries that will be least impacted by robots and the skills needed to fill those positions.

For some industries, an increase in automation won’t mean a decline in employment, but rather a shift in the tasks needed to be done. For example, any job that involves managing people, applying expertise and social interaction will still be necessary, human performance in those areas can’t be matched by a machine.

However, jobs involving mortgage origination, paralegal work, accounting and back-office transaction processing can easily be wiped out by automation.

A LinkedIn post focused on the report noted that some workers are already catching on to the need to boost the skills sets. Research by the networking platform found that fewer professionals are adding accounting and financial reporting to their profiles. Instead, employees are beefing up their online resumes with more soft skills like management, leadership and customer service.

While the impact of robots and automation may be scary to some, Bill Gates says the issue is nothing to panic about.

“This is a case where Elon [Musk] and I disagree,” he said in a Wall Street Journal interview, in which he addressed Musk’s gloomy vision of the future.

According to Gates, anyone with skills in science, engineering and economics will always be in demand...

Robots in 2030

Robots are already all around us, whether it’s the automated machines that assemble our vehicles or the virtual assistants that use conversational interfaces to help us around the house. Yet as we’ve seen, they’re not currently suitable for all areas of life. But will that change in the future?

Despite fears of an AI takeover, where machines replace humans as the dominant intelligence on the planet, such a scenario seems unlikely. However, business network PwC predicts that up to 30% of jobs could be automated by robots by the mid-2030s.

Other reports suggest that the stock of robots worldwide could reach 20 million by 2030, with automated workers taking up to 51 million jobs in the next 10 years. So, while they may not take over the world, we can expect to see more robots in our daily lives.
How robots will change the world

According to a report from McKinsey, automation and machines will see a shift in the way we work. They predict that across Europe, workers may need different skills to find work. Their model shows that activities that require mainly physical and manual skills will decline by 18% by 2030, while those requiring basic cognitive skills will decline by 28%.

Workers will need technological skills, and there will be an even greater need for those with expertise in STEM. Similarly, many roles will require socioemotional skills, particularly in roles where robots aren’t good substitutes, such as caregiving and teaching.

We may also see robots as a more integral part of our daily routine. In our homes, many simple tasks such as cooking and cleaning may be totally automated. Similarly, with robots that can use computer vision and natural language processing, we may see machines that can interact with the world more, such as self-driving cars and digital assistants.  READ MORE...