With the rise in robots at work and in the public, Hollywood films like to portray robots as dangerous machines able to threaten humanity (see Terminator, iRobot). But are robots dangerous? In this article, we’ll explain exactly why evil robots are just for the movies, and why robots are not dangerous.
Who create robots?
To understand if a robot would be dangerous, we can ask, who creates robots? Robots are difficult to produce, requiring experts from different domains. As a result, most robots today are produced by large companies with R&D budgets. Robots are built by companies that pay for their production, who share the same goal: To sell as many robots as they possibly can to make a return on the investment spent creating the robot.
Would companies make dangerous robots?
We know companies are trying to sell as many robots as possible, and to make money. However, companies are liable for personal injury if a robot is involved!
- This is a large financial incentive for companies to create or adopt robots that would be safe for humans!
- No customer wants to buy a dangerous robot, forcing companies to build and sell safe robots!
There are some exceptions for military robots, but these are managed and deployed by nations militaries, and used in special circumstances that would not affect the public.
How do companies make safe robots?
A safe robot is one that avoids contact with humans. To do this, robots rely on sensors to perceive their environment and understand if a human is too close!
Are all robots safe?
Industrial robots used in production often do not have any sensors, which makes them dangerous! They will follow their replanned movements, even if a human is in there way! This leads to injuries if humans do not respect their boundaries.
Will robots be dangerous in the future?
We do not need to worry about a robot uprising such as in the film iRobot, as robots face the following challenges:
- Power: No more than a day!
- Edge Compute: Limited by power
- No Artificial General Intelligence!
- Sensors: Low Coverage, need cleaning!
- Robots likely won’t communicate with each other (security risk)
- Robots require maintenance on failing parts
Today’s most advanced robots are not dangerous or ready to put humans in danger!
So, are robots dangerous? The answer is no, robots are not dangerous, because the companies that make them want to make them as safe as possible to stay in business!
