Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto
I did not know until recently that the term robot was invented in 1920 by a Czech playwrite to describe a new class of non-human worker. The word is a derivative a term for “forced labor” and that’s how we’ve often thought of robots through the years: as servants. Think The Jetsons, or Lost in Space. Or we’ve regarded them as novelties, like those Japanese robot pets.
We first began using robots in earnest for industrial work, and now with more sophistication in medicine, law enforcement and the military. Robots started out as efficient “muscle” tools for heavy work, freeing up humans for more skill-based tasks. As they got smarter and smaller, their work became more refined and precise. Today, besides vacuuming your apartment and assembling cars, robots help perform complex surgeries, collect and analyze ocean floor data and serve as unmanned spacecraft. Their evolution from being primarily physical objects to perform manual labor, to intimately interacting with people or controlling critical, interdependent systems, is well underway. But the next phase is going to be mind-blowing.
Fast-moving advances in machine learning and AI, among other drivers, are sparking innovation and making robotics cheaper, easier, more autonomous, more varied and higher performing. They’re already poised to interact with us intimately as helpmates for seniors, delivery service in hotels, smart-limbs for disabled people and even companions. As part of a burgeoning service sector, they’ll increasingly occupy jobs that humans don’t want, can’t keep up with, or aren’t available to take. They’ll operate on cloud-based software, driven by a robotics cloud marketplace. They’ll transform the economy in ways we can anticipate and in ways we can’t yet envision. They’ll still perform “work” — after all, those vast fulfillment centers won’t deploy your Zappos orders all by themselves! But the introduction into robots of close-to or better-than human cognition is going to be a game changer.
These advancements will happen on a global scale, as more activities previously performed by people become automated. A new report by the McKinsey Global Institute claims that about 60 percent of all occupations can automate at least 30 percent of their activities. So, tasks that are already automated will become even more simplified. The age of thinking automation will create new centers of wealth, with high-paying jobs that don’t yet exist, and increased global productivity. Some poorer countries will see dramatic shifts in their GDP, and populations will shift.
All of this approaching change reminds me of my recent visit to the Asian Art Museum. In front of the museum stands the colorful Hung Yi Dragon Fortune that holds a fish-like shape, but also looks like a dragon and is covered in symbols and expressions of good fortune. Before seeing this sculpture, the first thought that came into my head when I heard the word “dragon” was a fire breathing beast out to destroy a village. This dual nature of the dragon represents the tension, the paradox and the promise of innovation. History is full of examples of transitions from old to new paradigms, and their consequential aftermaths. The rippling changes across the world that resulted from the Gutenberg printing press. The ground-shifting industrial revolutions of the past two centuries. The dazzling automation revolution in the first half of the 20th century, and the transformative digital revolution happening right now.
From an organizational perspective, in this dawning age of robotic disruption, the people who will see the most success will be part of industries, enterprises and individual ventures that are willing to embrace the transformation. Spinning off smaller, more flexible and specialized new centers of expertise will be one signature of those most prepared to embrace the changes ahead.
As next-gen automation reduces or eliminates some jobs faster than industries can replace them, new economic streams are going to emerge. Key among them will be smaller businesses and entrepreneurial ventures that can fill employment gaps and create new centers of commerce. Lots of them. Small, specialized, self-reliant businesses will be uniquely poised to productively exploit the occupational fracturing that robotics will create. And the accessible, malleable robotics of the near future will be among some of their most effective tools.
Here’s an example: the Arduino board. It’s cheap, programmable and allows for anyone with basic skills to put it to use. TannerTech made a robo-backpack using an Arduino and two motors. Could an entrepreneur turn that into a simple grocery cart for older folks that would follow them to the local store, around the store while they shopped and then back home? Seeing a local need, modifying an application to meet that need and then mixing and matching hardware can enable entrepreneurs to build new companies that tap into opportunities around them.
Achieving the full potential of automation’s promise — rising from the ashes of the old world order — will take creativity, vision and guts. But there will be rewards for those agile and intrepid enough to adapt. GoDaddy is delighted by that fact. We want to partner with people who have the initiative and sense of purpose to create something new from something old. Bring it on, robots.
