Robohub.org
 

Xconomy Forum’s final word about robots and jobs

by
12 April 2013



share this:

zconomy jobs promo
At the Xconomy Forum held in Palo Alto earlier this week, the focal topic was “Robots Remake the Workplace.” It was expected that the jobs issue would permeate the event. Do robots take away jobs? Instead, what was evident to all in the room was that all the speakers were in the new Service Robotics sector of the industry and they were all creating new jobs.

This post is part of Robohub’s Jobs Focus.

A few simple facts emerged:

  1. It’s true: industrial robots do take away jobs, often in big numbers. Generally, these are jobs that humans don’t want to do or shouldn’t be doing. After a short time, the displaced workers are replaced in higher level tasks (and perhaps re-distributed downstream or elsewhere). This process has already begun, and will continue.
  2. On the other hand, Service Robotics create jobs that didn’t exist before, often in respectable numbers — numbers that today,  as Service Robotics grows, may very well equal or exceed jobs lost by the use of industrial robots. And these new jobs could grow to much greater numbers as the industry continues to flourish. These are jobs that people want and that pay well.
  3. There is a political component not presently being adequately addressed as automation transforms the workplace by replacing humans with machines that have encapsulated their skills and can perform those skills flawlessly. Retraining and upgrading the general educational system to enable the higher tech skills needed for these new jobs needs a shot of reality instead of spin.
  4. Under the rubric that success breeds success, each recent successful robotics venture was less focused on the metrics of labor cost reduction than on enabling growth limited by hard-to-find labor.
Curt Carlson, President & CEO, SRI

Curt Carlson, President & CEO, SRI

As we move quickly toward what Curt Carlson, CEO of SRI International, said is a “zero inventory, zero delay, and 100% personalized” world, it will likely be true that fewer people will be working in manufacturing.

Carlson’s catchy phrase encapsulates both the complexity and simplicity of the process — and the momentum required for it to happen. The process will likely be driven by (1) lower costs of sensors, CPUs and hardware and (2) more capable AI; and the drivers propelling it forward will be the aging population and global competitiveness.

Thus jobs were not the main topic at the Xconomy Forum; the issue was an aside. The main topic was really the progress and inroads robotics are adding to the global automation and business solutions process.

The jobs issue did lend itself to the two best jokes of the day:

  1. Ten years from now all the robots will be out on strike saying, “Those damn 3D printers are taking away our jobs!”
  2. Let’s reconvene this debate 10 years from now when we have all this time on our hands [after our jobs have been replaced by robots].


tags: , , , , , , , , ,


Frank Tobe is the owner and publisher of The Robot Report, and is also a panel member for Robohub's Robotics by Invitation series.
Frank Tobe is the owner and publisher of The Robot Report, and is also a panel member for Robohub's Robotics by Invitation series.





Related posts :



Robot Talk Episode 51 – James Kell

In this week's episode of the Robot Talk podcast, host Claire Asher chatted to James Kell from Jacobs Engineering UK all about civil infrastructure, nuclear robotics and jet engine inspection.
02 June 2023, by

Automate 2023 recap and the receding horizon problem

“Thirty million developers” are the answer to driving billion-dollar robot startups, exclaimed Eliot Horowitz of Viam last week at Automate.
01 June 2023, by

We are pleased to announce our 3rd Reddit Robotics Showcase!

The 2021 and 2022 events showcased a multitude of fantastic projects from the r/Robotics Reddit community, as well as academia and industry. This year’s event features many wonderful robots including...
30 May 2023, by

European Robotics Forum 2023 was a success!

One of the highlights of the conference for us was our workshop "Supporting SMEs in Bringing Robotics Solutions to Market", where experts gave insights on how DIHs can create a greater impact for SMEs and facilitate a broad uptake and integration of robotics technologies in the industry.
28 May 2023, by

Helping robots handle fluids

Researchers create a new simulation tool for robots to manipulate complex fluids in a step toward helping them more effortlessly assist with daily tasks.
27 May 2023, by

Robot Talk Episode 50 – Elena De Momi

In this week's episode of the Robot Talk podcast, host Claire Asher chatted to Elena De Momi from the the Polytechnic University of Milan all about surgical robotics, artificial intelligence, and the upcoming ICRA robotics conference in London.
26 May 2023, by





©2021 - ROBOTS Association


 












©2021 - ROBOTS Association