Not all robotics steal needed jobs.

These days robotics is in the news a lot, but the talk is often negative and associated with job loss. Yet, these robotic examples solve interesting problems in positive ways and take on jobs that are either going away, people would prefer not to do, or didn’t exist in the first place.

For example, take this notice that Walmart has patented robot bees. Perhaps a surprise that this would be an area of interest for the company, but good that the company has looked to solve the problem of bee population declines. Who would have known that a robot could solve this problem?

There is also robot technology for milking cows that is freeing milk farmers from the time intensive and off-hours work required for human milking. Robots are giving these farmers a new cadence to life.

Finally, consider robotic furniture from MIT Media Lab’s Ori, which helps make a small space functional. With needing to fit more people into urban centers, such solutions can optimize the use of space.   

So, robotics isn’t all bad. We’ll continue to see positive uses of such technology to solve problems and improve lives.

The Industry Forecast: How can I use robotics to solve problems that humans can’t address today?