A future where robots are as common as cars is on the way
The evolution of robots is the same as the evolution of cars. Once we have developed practical robots at a reasonable price, they will become an integral part of our daily life. Robots are becoming increasingly complex, smart and adept at performing different tasks. They are currently analyzing documents, working in factories, filling prescriptions and helping with training, diagnostics and performing surgery. Soon they will be able to substitute human workforce in every sphere of our life.
It is believed that someday machines would be able to think creatively. But the age of creative machines is really near at hand. Nowadays there is software that can easily substitute an army of lawyers and paralegals aimed to review documents. According to The New York Times such software was already used by one international law firm, which helped to analyze 1.5 million documents for less than $100,000.
Using software developed by Northwestern University, you can get quality, cheap machine-generated stories. The artificial intelligence platform Quill™ automatically analyzes data and spits out a story in minutes. Content can be produced in many formats, including articles, business reports, summaries, headlines and even Tweets.
For factories robots tend to be machines doing heavy, dangerous and boring chores. These machines are believed to be more skilled and reliable than merely displacing humans. According to Marshall Brain, the founder of How Stuff Works, by the end of 2013 it is expected to be 1.2 million industrial robots working worldwide — that's one robot for every 5,000 people. Just imagine what the future of robotics has in store for us. Though it has not less illustrious past.
A timeline of robotics begins with a mechanical bird built in 350 BC but the real advance in innovation has come in the last half decade. The first humanoid robot was created around the year 1495 by Leonardo Da Vinci. Leonardo's robot had the capability to walk, stand and sit, open and close its mouth, move its head side to side and independently maneuver its arms. The entire robotic system was operated by engineering machine parts such as levers and pulleys. Leonardo created his robot only to prove that the human body is a machine in structure that’s why his creation possessed quite non-human, lifeless characteristics.
Modern scientists are aimed to create robots as socially adept as any human beings. For instance, Hanson Robotics have designed life-like, social robots that look and act like humans: they recognize and mimic human expression and emotion, establish eye contact, recognize faces and can carry out natural spoken conversation. The inventors hope that their creation would be useful to psychology and the entertainment industry.
Modern robots are becoming more multifunctional and sophisticated. Some people even fear that robots can lead to fewer job opportunities for them, especially for workers. But that needn't be the case. Machines can create more career opportunities, making both employees and the company successful in an increasingly global economy.
Could you work next to robot ? Are you afraid that it can take your job?