Tag Archive for: robots
74% of employees in South Africa say that robots should be more widely used in production, but fear robot hacking
According to Kaspersky (www.Kaspersky.co.za) research, employees in South Africa believe that the better robots become at different tasks, the fewer jobs will remain for humans. The majority of local employees surveyed (74%) believe that robots should be more widely used across different industries, however, many fear robot hacking.
Today robotics are used together with industrial control systems and other information technology to handle production processes, replacing manual labour and improving efficiency, speed, quality and performance. Kaspersky conducted a study to learn the opinion of employees of manufacturing companies and other large organisations around the world about the consequences of automation and increased use of robots. The goal was to see what employees think about the security of robots and automated systems in their companies. The survey included respondents from Saudi Arabia, UAE, Turkey, Egypt, and South Africa.
Employees reported an increase in robotisation level in their companies over the last 2 years. 33% of employees from South Africa said their organisations already use robots, 39% of local organisations plan to use them in the near future.
Research showed that people expect job loss because of robotisation. The better robots become at different tasks, the fewer jobs will remain for humans. The majority of employees surveyed in South Africa (92%) believe robots will eventually replace humans in their industry. As robots are advancing in all market sectors, humans need to receive new knowledge and skills not to lose their job to robots. And they are ready to do so: among those who think that their jobs could be replaced by robots, the majority (75%) are willing to learn new skills or improve their existing skills and expertise.
At the same time, many employees remain optimistic in view of robots taking away jobs. They think robot adoption will make humans’ roles safer and intellect-demanding, along with increasing the efficiency of production. 48% believe that enough new jobs will be created to counter the loss of jobs to robots. More jobs will emerge for programmers, data scientists, and engineers – these people will drive robot adoption in the…
Amazon plans more home robots despite early skepticism about Astro – GeekWire
Amazon unveiled Astro, its first home robot, in September, after developing the rolling Alexa device in secret for several years. In an introductory video, the company anticipated the skepticism Astro would face.
“A robot?” a mom in the video asks. “What are we going to do with a robot?”
In this fictional world, of course, Astro wins people over with its ability to navigate autonomously through a house, serve as a mobile security and video conferencing hub, check the stove with its periscoping camera, help family members check in on older relatives, start a dance party, and deliver a drink to someone on the couch.
In the real world, however, Astro still has some convincing to do.
Astro “is a solution in search of a problem,” concluded CNET’s David Priest in his review. “It’s cool, undeniably, and I’m excited to see what home robots look like in the near future … But for now, Astro remains an interesting device with a lot of potential, but too little utility to really be worth that price tag.”
That price tag, for now, is $1,000, if you’re one of the limited number of customers whose request to purchase Astro is approved through Amazon’s Day One Editions preview program. Eventually, when Astro is more widely released to the general public, the price is expected to go up to $1,500.
Astro is 17-inches tall with a 10-inch display, a rear cargo hold and a periscoping camera.
It rolls around autonomously on two wheels. In essence, it’s a mobile Echo device, responding to questions in the voice of Alexa. Astro otherwise communicates through beeps and blips and a pair of expressive digital “eyes” in the form of simple animated emoticons on its screen.
Amazon acknowledges the skepticism about Astro but makes it clear that it’s not giving up so easily. The company is working on improvements based on initial feedback, and it describes Astro as the first in a line of home robots.
“This is the beginning of the journey for us,” said Ken Washington, Amazon’s vice president of consumer…
