Rise of the robots
Your next full-time employee could be a robot.
Robots, automation and other digital technologies are expected to displace most of the current workforce. Every industry will be affected by retirement residences to factories, schools and hospitals, says Bartosz Bos, a 3D Printing Consultant.
Robots are going to replace jobs, but it’s not all doom and gloom. For every job a robot replaces two more could be created, said Bos during Vancouver Island Economic Alliance’s 2017 State of the Island Economic Summit. Two more people will have to work in the background to maintain the robot with maintenance, programming and development, said Bos during the Futurescape – How Exponential Technologies Will Impact Our Businesses, Economy and Way of Life session.
Developing relationships with robots is going to be important. And people will need to keep in mind that robots are people’s partners, not their slaves, he added.
Uncharted world of artificial intelligence
James Cameron’s Skynet may be closer to reality than fiction. There are two diverging views when it comes to artificial intelligence: It will either help us or enslave us.
We can’t conceive the final outcomes of the development of AI, said Bos. There is currently zero quality control for people programming AI and it can be as biased as the creators who write it. People around the globe need to develop a standard or prime directive for artificial intelligence, added Bos.
He said no one right now is imagining the worst scenario, but if something isn’t done to mitigate the risk a bleak future could be on the horizon. People need to think globally and separating the idea of profit and success, to grow and bit, and decide how today’s actions will affect future generations.
We must prepare or a future where we don’t understand what is coming added Bos.
New Industrial Revolution coming
We are on the cusp of the fifth industrial revolution, said Graham Truax, Executive of Residence Innovation Island BC Innovation Council’s Venture Acceleration Program. He said currently we are only hitting 18 percent of the digital potential for technologies in traditional non-tech industries, but the increasing use of these digital economies could add 1.6 billion to the economy.
The rapid development of technologies will create exponential challenges and opportunities. Technology is fitting into smaller spaces and has more power than its predecessors.
The next wave of opportunities fits into five sectors said Traux:
- Virtual and augmented reality
- 5th generation mobile
- 3D printing
- Blockchain
- Artificial intelligence
