Nine jobs that humans may lose to robots

Topdawg13 · Mar 23, 2011

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By 2013 there will be 1.2 million industrial robots working worldwide — that's one robot for every 5,000 people, according to Marshall Brain, founder of How Stuff Works and author of Robotic Nation.

Robots are currently analyzing documents, filling prescriptions, and handling other tasks that were once exclusively done by humans.

1. Pharmacists:

The UCSF Medical Center recently launched an automated, robotics-controlled pharmacy at two UCSF hospitals.

Once computers at the new pharmacy electronically receive medication orders from UCSF physicians and pharmacists, the robotics pick, package, and dispense individual doses of pills.

The pharmacy system, which was phased in over the past year, so far has prepared 350,000 doses of medication without error.

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2. Lawyers and paralegals:

The New York Times reported that Blackstone Discovery of Palo Alto, CA provided software that helped analyze 1.5 million documents for less than $100,000.

"From a legal staffing viewpoint, it means that a lot of people who used to be allocated to conduct document review are no longer able to be billed out,” Bill Herr, a lawyer, tells the New York Times. “People get bored, people get headaches. Computers don’t.”

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3. Drivers:

Google announced last fall that it was working on automated cars as a way to increase safety and help humans reduce the time spent commuting to work.

With human supervisors in the passenger seat, seven test cars have driven 1,000 miles without human intervention and more than 140,000 miles with only occasional human control.

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4. Astronauts:

Through a partnership with General Motors, NASA's Robonaut2 is the latest example of android technology. It could one day venture outside the station to help spacewalkers make repairs or perform scientific work, according to NASA.

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5. Store clerks:

Companies are increasingly looking for ways to sell more products with fewer employees.

Retail employment has barely budged over the last year despite stronger sales at major chains. Meanwhile, $740 billion was transacted through self-service machines in 2010, up 9 percent from 2009, reported the Los Angeles Times. That number is projected to rise to $1.1 trillion by 2014.

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6. Soldiers:

Although soldiers have yet to be replaced by an army of robots, we seem to be moving in that direction as drones and other machines are increasingly being used in reconnaissance and combat missions.

One example is the the MAARS (Modular Advanced Armed Robotic System), made by Foster-Miller, which has provided armed robots in Iraq.

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7. Babysitters:

Aeon Co., a major Japanese retailer, introduced a four-foot-tall yellow and white robot at a store in 2008 whose job is to babysit children while the adults shop.

Other models include the Hello Kitty robot, which is perfect for "whoever does not have a lot time to stay with child," according to a vendor and NEC’s PaPeRo robot, which tells jokes, gives quizzes, and can track kids using a radio-frequency identification chip.

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8. Rescuers:

Robots can reach areas that are inaccessible to humans and provide crucial help in rescuing victims from natural disasters.

Tadokoro has offered the use of a snakelike robot that can enter tight spaces and use a camera to survey them, which could be helpful in collapsed buildings.

For now, the most useful robots could be aerial drones that can provide aerial inspections or ROV’s, which can help locate underwater objects and determine the condition of bridges and pipelines, according to the Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue at Texas A&M University.

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9. Sportswriters and other reporters:

Using software developed by Northwestern University, Narrative Science specializes in machine-generated stories. One of its customers, the Big Ten Network, which is partially owned by Fox Cable, says it uses the service for baseball and softball coverage because it's cheaper.

After a game, scorekeepers e-mail game data to Narrative Science, which feeds it into a computer and spits out a story in minutes.
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SICK · Mar 23, 2011

I think Bank Tellers can def. be on that list.

MikeHoncho · Mar 23, 2011

Gotta wonder when a human will replace the robot we've got as Miami Dolphins Starting QB

gunn34 · Mar 23, 2011

pennphinfan · Mar 26, 2011

SICK said:

I think Bank Tellers can def. be on that list.
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it's called an ATM. people are just too stubborn to "trust a machine with their money"-- i realize an ATM can't do everything, but it certainly could if people would just let it.

MikeHoncho · Mar 27, 2011

pennphinfan said:

it's called an ATM. people are just too stubborn to "trust a machine with their money"-- i realize an ATM can't do everything, but it certainly could if people would just let it.
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...and you can't flirt with a cute ATM.

maynard · Apr 7, 2011

i dont understand lawyers and paralegals. maybe staff can be trimmed but thats it

texanphinatic · Apr 8, 2011

maynard said:

i dont understand lawyers and paralegals. maybe staff can be trimmed but thats it
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I would think its more research/document oriented, behind the scenes stuff. I don't think machines will replace trial lawyers in the courtroom.

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Nine jobs that humans may lose to robots

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Nine jobs that humans may lose to robots

Topdawg13 New Member

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MikeHoncho -=| Censored |=- Club Member

gunn34 I miss Don & Dan

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maynard Who, whom?

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