Robots won’t just take our jobs – they’ll make the rich even richer

Should robots pay taxes?

It may sound strange, but a number of prominent people have been asking this question lately. As fears about the impact of automation grow, calls for a “robot tax” are gaining momentum. Earlier this month, the European parliament considered one for the EU. Benoît Hamon, the French Socialist party presidential candidate who is often described as his country’s Bernie Sanders, has put a robot tax in his platform. Even Bill Gates recently endorsed the idea.

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Robots and drones: Coming soon to a construction site near you

Advancements in the robotics field are helping to transform a number of industries, construction being one of them. Companies that build things can expect to see a host of new machines that perform a variety of tasks — adding efficiency to construction projects as well as reducing injuries to human workers.

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Why we must teach morality to robots

Every week comes a new warning that robots are taking over our jobs. People have become troubled by the question of how robots will learn ethics, if they do take over our work and our planet.

As early on as the 1960s Isaac Asimov came up with the ‘Three Laws of Robotics’ outlining moral rules they should abide by. More recently there has been official guidance from the British Standards Institute advising designers how to create ethical robots, which is meant to avoid them taking over the world.

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Do Robots and AI Deserve Rights?

When it comes to robot-human relations, the conversation typically centers on the welfare of the sentient. Science fiction paints us as petrified by our own creations; fears of a bot planet have influenced everything from Asimov’s “Laws of Robotics” to HAL 9000’s homicidal impulses to Skynet’s global genocide.

These human-centric anxieties are understandable. However, as our assorted bots and bits gain skills and personalities, should they be afforded some form of protection from us? It’s a question people are starting to seriously ponder.

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Sewbo is getting closer to disrupting the sweatshop

Jon Zornow, the founder of Sewbo, made waves in September after announcing that he had built the first robot to sew a t-shirt without human intervention. Using a robot arm and an automatic sewing machine, Zornow took some carefully prepared material and ran it through a pre-programmed series of moves.

It worked. Out popped a t-shirt.

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Robotic surgery involved in 144 deaths in the U.S. since 2000

Robotic surgery

Between 2000 and 2013, robotic surgeons were involved in the deaths of 144 people, according to records kept by the FDA. There are some forms of robotic surgery that are much riskier than others: the death rate for head, neck, and cardiothoracic surgery is almost 10 times higher than for other forms of surgery.

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Drones: more than ‘dramatic shots’

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Last week the comprehensive local regulations for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), or as more commonly referred to, drones, went into effect.  Drone technology has far-reaching benefits for many industries despite that most of the media coverage has focused on what regulated drone usage will do for “dramatic shots” in film.   Continue reading… “Drones: more than ‘dramatic shots’”

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