Robots – Assistants or Replacements?

The current exploration of Mars by Curiosity has dredged up the debate. Are robots assistants to humans or their replacements? There seem to be two lines of thought on this.

For Louise Jandura, sampling system lead engineer with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory the involvement of robots on the mission is critical for success. They are much required assistants without whom the progress that we have made in such a short while would not be possible.

Julie Shah, assistant professor of aeronautics and astronautics at M.I.T., on the other hand feels that the robots that are being designed are likely to replace human beings in industrial and manufacturing processes. This is likely to result in a loss of a number of jobs.

So what’s the verdict? Is the advancing field of robotics good for mankind as a whole. Since most robots are not as good at doing what all a human being can do at this stage, one can safely assume that it will be a while before they begin to replace the human element altogether in the work place.

At the same time, when you have the option of getting a repetitive job done well and with precision by a robot why would you turn down the offer? Till the next science project convinces us otherwise, cheers to robots!