Robohub.org
 

Gill Pratt: Is a Cambrian Explosion Coming for Robotics? | Automaton Blog


by
01 September 2015



share this:

When the growth of robot capabilities begins in earnest, it will likely be explosive

Hallie Siegel’s insight:
Gill Pratt (DARPA’s DRC Program Director) originally wrote this for the Journal of Economic Perspectives.

Roboticists will be already familiar with many of the points Pratt brings up in the first part of his article – tech factors that are driving the robot revolution — such as cloud computing, improvements in computation, power efficiency, energy storage, etc.

Check out, though, the second section on economic perspectives ("Some implications for the Economy and Workforce") where he suggests that there is "there is reason to embrace the pending robotics revolution" despite concerns over the impact robotics on jobs. Here he discusses the distribution of robot capital ownership, the re-emergence of human services, etc.

He also suggests that if robots are to replace our bodies with mechanically superior technology, and our brains with AI, computing power, then we may see the rise of the "Personal Preferences Information Economy" … but to see this happen, we need to recognize and give greater value to our personal preferences (read: purchasing power) rather than giving it away to advertisers for free. Interesting to see Pratt take up the economic perspective.




Hallie Siegel robotics editor-at-large
Hallie Siegel robotics editor-at-large





Related posts :



Robot Talk Episode 116 – Evolved behaviour for robot teams, with Tanja Kaiser

  04 Apr 2025
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Tanja Katharina Kaiser from the University of Technology Nuremberg about how applying evolutionary principles can help robot teams make better decisions.

Robot Talk Episode 115 – Robot dogs working in industry, with Benjamin Mottis

  28 Mar 2025
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Benjamin Mottis from ANYbotics about deploying their four-legged ANYmal robot in a variety of industries.

Robot Talk Episode 114 – Reducing waste with robotics, with Josie Gotz

  21 Mar 2025
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Josie Gotz from the Manufacturing Technology Centre about robotics for material recovery, reuse and recycling.

Robot Talk Episode 113 – Soft robotic hands, with Kaspar Althoefer

  14 Mar 2025
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Kaspar Althoefer from Queen Mary University of London about soft robotic manipulators for healthcare and manufacturing.

Robot Talk Episode 112 – Getting creative with robotics, with Vali Lalioti

  07 Mar 2025
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Vali Lalioti from the University of the Arts London about how art, culture and robotics interact.

Robot Talk Episode 111 – Robots for climate action, with Patrick Meier

  28 Feb 2025
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Patrick Meier from the Climate Robotics Network about how robots can help scale action on climate change.

Robot Talk Episode 110 – Designing ethical robots, with Catherine Menon

  21 Feb 2025
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Catherine Menon from the University of Hertfordshire about designing home assistance robots with ethics in mind.

Robot Talk Episode 109 – Building robots at home, with Dan Nicholson

  14 Feb 2025
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Dan Nicholson from MakerForge.tech about creating open source robotics projects you can do at home.





Robohub is supported by:




Would you like to learn how to tell impactful stories about your robot or AI system?


scicomm
training the next generation of science communicators in robotics & AI


©2024 - Association for the Understanding of Artificial Intelligence


 












©2021 - ROBOTS Association