Are robots making our lives easy or lazy?
On a lazy Sunday morning, when you have a smart coffee maker brew your java even before you ask it to do so, you feel enriched with technology at its best. Automation has literally enveloped our lives in every way possible — from the kitchen to the car and everywhere in between. Nevertheless, we’re still afar from the age of the Bicentennial Man (although Sophia’s been doing quite a good job to be honest!).
Cut to the chase — we are slowly stepping towards a future where robots aren’t confined to your television screens anymore. They are walking around the house, in the porch or even mowing the garden for you. Some are fascinated with the way these robots are making our lives easy. Some, on the other hand, consider them to be the harbingers of our laziness.
But, like Jacob Nelson spotted,
Hasn’t technology enabled us to do things that we have never been able to do before? Where would we be without the computer? Man would not have made it to the moon. Traffic would be horribly inefficient. We would still commute by boat. If technology is bad, how do you explain all of this?
Clearly, it isn’t about how many robots you have in your life. More likely, it’s about how you put them to use. Technology empowers us to do things based on our own priority. Whether it’s making a robot watch the house for you or play fetch with your pets, the power of control is always on you. For example, an iRobot can save you hours of home cleaning whereas the OMRON FORPHEUS encourages you to play more table tennis, way more table tennis.
Bottomline — you need to balance it out in a way such that smart technology outweighs the sluggishness in your life.
Fun Fact: Panasonic’s Movable Fridge comes to you when you call it 😮
That being the personal side of our lives, let’s stretch our wings a bit more and dive into other areas. Artificial intelligence and robotics has not just made our day-to-day lives easy but also have a globally efficient impact at the same time. From delivering packages to conducting eye-operations, robots are making it big in every sector. We couldn’t agree more with Nicholas Carr who wrote in The Glass Cage,
A labor-saving device doesn’t just provide a substitute for some isolated component of a job or other activity. It alters the character of the entire task, including the roles, attitudes, and skills of the people taking part.
So, in a way, these smart devices are actually transforming our lives and making us reach the future faster than we can think.
Just like it took several years for the world to accept smartphones which are now owned by literally one in six people across the globe, robots will also be a part of our lives in the coming years. Humanoid or not, they will make your lives lazy but, only if you learn to balance their usability with your way of living. With Aina (our upcoming artificially intelligent product at Lazy), we are trying to maintain this balance where the user gets to control the amount of automation they want in their lives. Even we vouch for the fears that Elon Musk has towards a completely automated world. Going back to what Spiderman vouches for — with great power comes great responsibility. Use it well!
