The robot paradox

Still not convinced that we are already in the robot age? Click on a few of the links below, and find out just how big a role robots and artificial intelligence already play in our lives, and what’s in store within a few years…

We’re not just talking about self-driving cars here, a topic that we have already covered extensively, and that are already to be seen, blending in with the traffic, in Mountain View, despite hostility from some quarters. It has now beenconclusively established that a robot behind the wheel sees better, makes better decisions, doesn’t get tired, drink, or suffer from road rage. And if you don’t believe me, just click on this great piece in The Oatmeal, “6 things I learned from riding in a Google self-driving car.”

But the fact is that we’re talking about much more than driving, for example, cooking, whether it’s making a crab bisque or an egg sandwich. Or maybe asthe new receptionist at the hotel. We talking about substituting Amazon’s warehouse staff, about playing table tennis at world championship level, or even performing rhythmic gymnastics. Robots will be looking after us when we’re old. Like Jesus, they are able to walk on water, to play soccer?—?although it probably will be some time before they can replace Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi. But they are already better team players than many soccer players, and are skilled at expressing and controlling their emotions. What’s more, prices have fallen, and can be hired for as little as $440 a month.

I found most of these links over the last couple of weeks, and it didn’t take long. The Amazon warehouse and the ping pong playing robot are amazing. Robots are now a part of our lives, and as such it makes sense to discuss the issue. For example, hundreds of researchers and experts in artificial intelligence, supported by personalities such as Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking, or Steve Wozniak, have signed an open letter calling for a ban on military research into the use of robotics, fearful that one day Terminatorwill not be just a movie.

Are such fears justified? Nobody relishes the idea of being chased by one of Google’s robotic mules or dogs, which would probably be able to anticipate your reactions anyway.

At the same time, military use is one of the best guarantees that a technology will be developed?—?we should remember that the internet started out as a military experiment, although the non-military uses were always in the minds of its creators. But this is where the paradox comes in: once again we are talking about technology with potentially devastating uses, but that once again reveals the state of human evolution. The economy illustrates this perfectly: the arrival of the robots and the increased productivity they offer will be the only way we will be able to finance many projects, such as universal health or other aspects of the welfare state.

In other words, the robots are likely to take your job, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, because a more productive society will allow us to redefine society, adapting capitalism in the process. We have to recognize that we are increasingly moving toward in which work will not have the meaning it once did, because many ways of earning a living up until now will be carried out not by people, but by robots.

We need to think about what will happen when robots start taking over so many more low-skill jobs, and to imagine the social transformation this will involve: a society where we work less, and where other types of services and occupations are valued. This will be a world where only those who really want to work will do so, doing things that motivate them, and where we will no longer be defined by our job. The robots will increase productivity and will create some new jobs. We have already lived through times when certain social classes didn’t work, and spent their time doing other things.

Will the development of robot technologies bring with it the paradox that created the internet? Are we facing a drastic change in the way society is structured, one that will change the rules as we have known them for centuries? The answer is, in all likelihood, yes. And what’s more, we are being carried into this change faster and faster.

(En espa?ol, aquí)