The Future of Robotics: How Robots Will Transform Our Lives

What comes to mind when you hear the word “robot”? Do you picture a metallic humanoid in a spaceship in the distant future? Perhaps you imagine a dystopian future where humanity is enslaved by its robot overlords. Or maybe you think of an automobile assembly line with robot-like machines putting cars together.

Whatever you think, one thing is sure: robots are here to stay. Fortunately, it seems likely that robots will be more about doing repetitive or dangerous tasks than seizing supreme executive power. Let’s look at robotics, defining and classifying the term, figuring out the role of Artificial Intelligence in the field, the future of robotics, and how robotics will change our lives.

What Is Robotics?

Robotics is the engineering branch that deals with the conception, design, construction, operation, application, and usage of robots. Digging a little deeper, we see that robots are defined as an automatically operated machine that carries out a series of actions independently and does the work usually accomplished by a human.

Incidentally, robots don’t have to resemble humans, although some do. Look at images of automobile assembly lines for proof. Robots that appear human are typically referred to as “androids.” Although robot designers make their creations appear human so that people feel more at ease around them, it’s not always the case. Some people find robots, especially ones that resemble people, creepy.

What’s the Use of AI in Robotics?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) increases human-robot interaction, collaboration opportunities, and quality. The industrial sector already has co-bots, which are robots that work alongside humans to perform testing and assembly.

Advances in AI help robots mimic human behavior more closely, which is why they were created in the first place. Robots that act and think more like people can integrate better into the workforce and bring a level of efficiency unmatched by human employees.