Introduction
Robotics is the intersection between technologies, science, and engineering that creates machines, known as robots, that replicate duties performed by human beings. Robots are automated intelligent machines that can execute different tasks with high precision and speed. Depending on the manner and context of their application, robotics has the potential to be a boon or a bane for humanity.
In this case, robotics has various advantages and affects humanity positively in several ways, while it is disadvantageous and tends to affect society differently. The positive impacts of robotics on society include improved quality of life, increased efficiency, and reduced costs. In contrast, the negative outcomes include job loss, the potential for misuse, and ethical considerations.
Advantages of Robotics
The application of robots in different fields has led to increased efficiency in society. Robots can work around the clock without stopping and accomplish many tasks more precisely than human beings (Balliester and Elsheikhi, 2018). As a result, business organizations and companies can easily manage their operations in less time, which guarantees increased productivity and reduced costs.
Robotics has promoted efficiency in society by enhancing quality control. Robots are programmed to accomplish repetitive jobs consistently (Bhbosale et al., 2020). This lowers the risk of errors and defects in the final products and services while maintaining consistency in quality.
Robotics has contributed to the improved quality of life in society. Deploying robotics in humanity’s industrial and service sectors has improved the quality of services and products (Khanzode & Sarode, 2020). According to Khanzode and Sarode (2020), robotics has been largely used by most companies and businesses to perform complex tasks. Thus, this application has reduced human error risks, promoting high-quality services and products in society.
Further, robotics is programmable to perform tasks with accuracy, speed, and precision, which human beings barely achieve (Macrorie et al., 2021). Thus, reduced errors, high accuracy, and precision have resulted in higher-quality products and services. Robotics has improved society’s quality of life by increasing safety in various applications. For instance, a study on robotics by Popkova and Gulzat (2020) reveals that robots have been deployed in dangerous work environments and hazardous waste sites to carry out duties that threaten human lives.
In medicine, robotics is used to perform complex tasks such as surgeries, reducing the risks of complications and improving patient outcomes (Schwalbe & Wahl, 2020; Loh, 2018). Macrorie et al. (2021) state that robotics has improved the quality of life by improving customization. This application has created room for adaptability and flexibility in robotic systems, resulting in more effective and personalized solutions (Macrorie et al., 2021). Thus, these applications reveal how positively robotics has promoted a high quality of life in society.
Robotics has reduced costs in society due to the automation of repetitive tasks, reduced workplace injuries, increased efficiency, and improved product quality. In the automation of repetitive duties, robotics mechanizes tedious work that would require companies to deploy human labor (Zhu et al., 2019). This aspect reduces the necessity for a human workforce and the resultant costs of labor.
According to Wirtz (2019), robotics works with greater speed and precision than human beings, which reduces the resources and time needed to undertake other tasks and eventually cuts down costs. Robots ‘ automation of physically demanding and dangerous jobs has helped to reduce the risk of workplace errors (Zemmar et al., 2020). Thus, companies and organizations can incur fewer costs associated with workers’ compensation, legal liabilities, and lost productivity (Menger et al., 2018). Therefore, robotics helps companies and business entities to evade costs that might result in less productivity.
Disadvantages of Robotics
Even though robotics has positively impacted society, it will result in job loss for many people. If robotics becomes a trend, there will be a high unemployment rate worldwide because a greater number of skilled workers will lose their jobs (Pham et al., 2018). Since robotics can perform repetitive work when automated, it will tend to replace many daily wage workers in society’s workplaces. As a result, companies and organizations will eliminate human labor in most operational sectors, leaving many people jobless.
There are ethical considerations associated with the use of roboticsin society. For instance, there is a risk that robotics may replace human labor, leading to job losses and unemployment rates (Lebovitz et al., 2021). Companies will become wholly dependent and over-reliant on robotics and technology since these systems have become increasingly integrated and advanced in different industries. For this reason, the human workforce will gradually be replaced by robotics as companies are driven toward efficiency, quality, and reduced costs.
There is an underlying potential for the misuse of robotics in society. For example, robotics is most likely to be used for malicious purposes, such as criminal activities and military expeditions (Bostrom & Yudkowsky, 2018). According to Horowitz (2018), technological advancements in developed and developing nations have prompted the use of robotics, such as military-armed drones, during warfare against their enemies.
Using robotics in military wars will inflict pain, suffering, and death on innocent and vulnerable citizens residing in less-advantaged nations (Horowitz, 2018). Further, Horowitz (2018) asserts that the use of robotics has facilitated border surveillance and access to information that is strategically vital to the security of individuals, organizations, and countries. For this reason, the application of robotics in surveillance drones might be an access point that terrorists can use to convey criminal activities worldwide (Stahl & Wright, 2018). Therefore, society must ensure that the use of robotics adheres to ethical considerations of public safety and privacy.
The Future of Robotics
There is great potential for robotics in the future, and advancements are expected to be made soon. The future of robotics is expected to transform society in terms of public security, education, job creation, healthcare, and quality of life (Popkova & Gulzat, 2020). Firstly, public security robotics will be used to detect and predict crimes. For instance, drone footage will be used to automatically recognize suspicious activities and allow law enforcement officers to respond to suspicious criminal behaviors (Haenlein & Kaplan, 2019). The classroom-individual learning interaction setting has become less prevalent.
An explanation by Roberts et al. (2020) presumes that a single teacher may not have the capacity to meet the needs of personalized learning required by every student in a classroom. Thus, computer-based learning has gradually continued to meet the customized needs of classroom students by helping them to learn at their own pace. For instance, humanoid robots like NAO will boost students’ personalized learning process by forming bonds through natural senses of interaction, such as moving, connecting, speaking, and listening (Yousif, 2021). Therefore, robotics in education will change the general outlook of the education system.
Further, robotics has the potential to be used by co-workers in future workplaces in society. Robots will be able to assume multiple roles in companies with improved precision (Pham et al., 2018). On the other hand, robotics will create new markets and job opportunities in the automation sector through retraining and education (Hansen et al., 2019). The healthcare field will begin to use intelligent robots to replace the physical visiting of primary physicians. For instance, pharmaceutics will help in interacting with patients, checking on their health conditions, and evaluating future medical appointments without inconveniencing patients’ autonomy (Schwalbe and Wahl, 2020).
Further, robotics will boost the quality standards of products in the future through mechanization and automation processes in industries (Menger et al., 2018). According to the United Nations estimates, technology has significantly reduced poverty over the past five decades compared to the previous 50 decades (Mhlanga, 2021). Hence, further improvements in robotics and the mechanization process will revolutionize effective ways of reducing poverty through resource maximization and increased productivity worldwide.
Conclusion
The use of robotics in society can be a bane or a boon for humanity, depending on the context and the manner in which it is used. Thus, robotics has positively impacted society by increasing efficiency, improving the quality of life, and reducing costs. On the contrary, robotics can negatively impact society through job losses, potential misuse, and ethical violations.
However, there is a greater potential for robotics’ future application in society. Robotics will be used in public security, education, healthcare, job creation, entertainment, and boosting standards of living worldwide. However, current and future society needs to call for a more balanced and informed approach to using robotics, which will enhance adherence to the ethical use of robotics to safeguard human safety and privacy.
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