Robotic Technology

    Alright, before I begin, I'm going do reply to a post made regarding hoverboards and whether I'll do a post or not on the subject. Sadly, I won't be creating a post dedicated to hoverboards, however amazing they may seem. However, to appease the fans of the hoverboards in the movie "Back to the Future", I've found an entertaining game on a webcomic site, xkcd. Although the only thing related to hoverboards in this game is the hoverboard you ride on, it's still a very fun, amusing and intriguing game.

The image on top is the game area. On the bottom, a zoomed out image of the starship included in the game.

https://xkcd.com/1608/

    Just a side note: Do not be limited to the game area you see. To the left and right of the game there are hundreds of webcomics just waiting to be found. Also, if any of you feel up to the challenge, see if you can beat my score of 87 coins in 1 500 seconds (25 minutes).

    Now, back to this post and it's topic: Robotic technology.

    Robots have been around since the 20th century and have progressed greatly since that time. They have come in many shapes and sizes from the first computer to the industrial machines of today, and have already made a large impact on our society. In fact, robots have created an enormous shift in the workforce because they're replacing humans in many industries (you'll see that the majority of car companies use computers and robots to construct the majority of their vehicles) due to their increased benefits when it comes to production and efficiency. Robots are actually the reason industries are capable of mass production, because they can complete general tasks much quicker than humans.

    However, with increasing development and complexity of our robots, their roles in our lives will become more and more important. This is because robots will be able to perform more complex and precise task, such as invasive surgery, solve a rubiks cube or contribute to the world. A good example of this would be IBM Watson, a supercomputer regarded by most as the most advanced computer of our time, surpassing even humans in some categories. In fact, IBM Watson had defeated the two most prestigious Jeopardy players at their own game in 2011 in a three day Jeopardy challenge. With that being said, it's very clear that robots are very close to being considered equal with humans, if not superior.

This just goes to show how advanced IBM Watson is and how this technology could affect the future.


    That being said, I see the current progression in computer technology as a risk that could benefit us in many ways. We'll be able to find solutions to our world's problems (global warming, cancer, etc.) more efficiently and we'll be able to make changes that would have otherwise been impossible. With computers by our side that can think and process faster than any human, anything is possible.

    However, as I had already said, there are risks. For example, with the advancements in robot technology, I believe we'll see a gradual increase in robots taking over are human jobs. Seeing as this would be cheaper in the long run for many industries (one robot doing the job of many humans at no pay), only the people at the top of the pyramid would keep their job. As a consequence, many humans will go unemployed or will not earn enough money to make a living and our economy will undergo a complete and drastic change.

    On top of that, there's probably one thought that comes into our head when we think of our future technology: Terminator. Of course, this is a vary possible outcome with technology if it learns to adapt and develop on it's own, and this process has already begun. In fact, many companies, like google, are attempting to develop artificial intelligence and robots that can program themselves. As a consequence, many renowned scientist are now talking about how this technology could be the end of us. Even Steven Hawking is against the unrestricted development of this technology, saying : "The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race".

    Fortunately for us, while this problem may arise in the future, it is still a minimal threat today, seeing as there is no real danger if any of our current technology even managed to become artificially intelligent. As a certain webcomic put it:

What Would Happen if Robots Tried to Take Over the World?

Sources:

1. https://what-if.xkcd.com/5/
2. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2857658/Artificial-intelligence-spell-end-human-race-Stephen-Hawking-warns-robotic-uprising-spiral-control.html
3. http://www.techrepublic.com/article/ibm-watson-the-inside-story-of-how-the-jeopardy-winning-supercomputer-was-born-and-what-it-wants-to-do-next/
4. https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22429932-200-computer-with-human-like-learning-will-program-itself/
5.https://www.rt.com/news/332522-robots-replace-global-workforce/