Introducing the Robots: 7 Predictions for the Next 5 Years

When discussing robotics in the past, we might have envisaged a well-mannered, humanoid contraption that wanders about our houses performing everyday tasks, rather like a monotonous butler. Now, we’re coming around to a more realistic and complex concept of robots – the last couple of years have seen a definite shift in robotics from industrial purposes to more innovative uses. The Robot Report claims that ‘more than half of [robotics] startups are predominantly software based, and indicative of the new metric that the hardware component represents less than 1/3 of the overall cost of the product.’ In other words, when someone says ‘robot’, we no longer think of simplistic droids which complete repetitive tasks as part of an assembly line – instead, we’re picturing intelligent units which have an active role in our everyday lives and blend seamlessly into our surroundings.

Read on for examples of where and how robots may begin to provide services over the coming years.

1.      Robots as Teachers

Alongside the shift towards software-based research over hardware, we can also anticipate a reversal of the student-teacher relationship between humans and artificial intelligence. The educational and hobby market is on the rise, and represents a space in which robots will be utilised to teach languages, skills and even crafts. We can already see examples of these robots – for example Nao, Pepper, Tiro, IROBI and Robovie are all successful robots which are used to teach English. Reports have indicated that children engage best with robots which exhibit natural behaviour, for example a humanoid physical shape, autonomous emotions and expression, and voices which adapt to situations by changing tone and pitch. However, robots are expected to serve as an aid in the classroom rather than completely replacing human teachers.

2.      Robots as Drivers

The transport industry is expected to utilise robots more and more as technology progresses – already we have seen the impressive development of Google and Tesla’s self-driving technology. Although there are ongoing debates as to when and how these cars will appear on the road, estimations predict that there will be over 10 million self-driving cars on the road by 2020, and that autonomous cars will make up over 15% of all vehicles sold in 2030. And alongside self-driving cars, keep your eyes peeled for self-driving buses, trams, trains – and even robots which act as porters in hotels and hospitals.

3.      Robots as Security Systems

We’re used to having alarm systems in our homes and businesses, but in the future we may enlist security drones to act as extensions of smart homes. These drones would be able to use multi-sensor awareness to keep an eye on entire properties and provide high-resolution video feeds to absent property owners. Imagine being able to receive phone notifications for unexpected activity, remotely locking doors and windows, or looking in on your pets via video link. Robotics Trends even predicts that, with the invention of the smart home, you’d be able to ‘train’ your house to adapt to your preferences and schedule, so that when you forget to lock the door the house will remember.

4.      Robots as Delivery Drones

Amazon announced their first successful Prime Air drone delivery in December 2016, and in the future we may see the use of drones as delivery porters become standardised. Amazon’s drone boasts a mere half hour delivery time for some smaller items, which brings a whole new meaning to instant gratification during internet shopping. But advances in drone production could be slowed by flying restrictions; Amazon’s drone has learned to dodge pigeons, but must be limited to a height of 400ft and kept in sight of the pilot at all times when it eventually becomes commonplace.

5.      Robots as Explorers

As we continue to discover more about our vast and mysterious universe, we will most likely find robots making the ‘giant leap for mankind’ as they chart new territories across the galaxies. Human astronauts, naturally, require more complex life support systems to survive in a vacuum, and are more difficult to return to Earth safely – robots, meanwhile, could be easier to maintain remotely and are far more adept at conducting scientific research. Where human error is known to produce flaws during experiments, the ability of a robot to repeat the same task perfectly thousands of times and carry out measurements to minute detail through built-in sensors allows for more accurate results. Check here for more examples of robots in space.

6.      Robots as Personal Assistants

With the introduction of Alexa and Google to our everyday lives, it’s not much of a stretch to imagine a robot / AI unit which is fully integrated into our daily schedule. Although Alexa in particular has had a couple of rather hilarious stumbling blocks in its first few months (click here for more details), she heralds a near future in which AI can be used as a tool to get us from A to B, order us dinner at C, and arrange for a car to pick us up from X in the early hours of the morning.

7.      Robots as Social Creatures

One of the most exiting robots on the horizon so far is surely Jibo, whose tagline is ‘the world’s first social robot’ – see here . Jibo is a manifestation of what we have come to expect robots to be – it’s human, but not uncomfortably so (see here for a great discussion on robotics and the uncanny valley), it’s intelligent, but easily interactive and, essentially, it adapts to seamlessly fit around your life. This combination of artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies is essential for producing the human-like expressions and reactions we are looking for in our robotic sidekicks. In the end, humans aren’t happy unless they gain an emotional response from their daily interactions.

Inevitably, there will be some issues that crop up along the way. The more we use robots as convenient shortcuts, the more we end up removing human workers from the equation of everyday transactions. Reports have indicated that almost 250,000 public sector workers could lose their jobs to robots over the next 15 years, with jobs in retail, transport and healthcare being hit hardest. Of course, upkeep and maintenance of our robotic replacements will supply new jobs, but these will require rejected employees to cultivate an entirely different CV to qualify. But, like it or not, the robots are coming – global investment surged in 2015 to double that in 2014, and it’s estimated that there will be a $1.5 billion market for consumer and business robots alone by 2019. Change is on the way, and the responsible integration of robots could be the difference between riding the robotics wave and drowning in it.