Prof Mithilesh Kumar Sinha
Department of Economics, Nagaland University, Lumami
A philosopher of Australian origin has been a supporter of the non-violent ideas of Mahatma Gandhi and Vinaba Bhave – Ivan Illich. His view was that vehicles had taken away the strength of human legs. Technology has taken away man’s human skills and efforts are being made against man by developing him in the form of a ‘counter-man’ robot and leaving man alone in the jungle of cement, concrete and machines. Even though there is family and society, they are still in the clutches of machines, having lost their freedom
Robots are becoming increasingly prevalent in our daily lives. They can be found in factories and other industrial places, where they perform tasks that are dangerous or difficult for humans. But robots are also beginning to appear in more mundane environments like homes and hospitals.
Ronald Arkin, a roboticist at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, estimates that by 2050, human-robot relationships will become completely normal. These robots will become our co-workers, and perhaps women or men may even start marriages with robots.
When joint families were prevalent, children used to play together and try to satisfy their curiosity by talking to elders. Now in the changed times there are nuclear families and digital age. Mobile phones and laptops have become children’s companions. Children are becoming addicted to video games. In such a situation, the scientists of IIT Kanpur are working on such a robot which will prove to be a friend of the children, will play with them, laugh and will also increase their bookish knowledge by satisfying their curiosity. The team of mechanical engineers of the institute is constructing it.
Examples of robots in everyday life include social family robots, cleaning robots, and cooking aids. Robot mops and vacuums provide consistent cleaning of floors and carpets. With the availability of robot chefs and fully robotic kitchens, automated kitchens are slowly becoming an option. The most attractive thing about this application is that home robots can connect to the home network. This means that it will gradually transform the home from a traditional environment to an interactive smart home.
Even a social family robot can act as our assistant and help keep our schedule on track. It is designed to develop socially and can play with children and family pets.
It is a matter of concern that people like to talk to robots more than partners, sales increased by 30 per cent, hence the sales of Android robots have increased by 30 per cent. People are buying robots worth INR 60,000 to INR 1.70 lakh and bringing them home as per report of a Survey in Japan.
To be a robot means to be void of feelings. They are capable of completing tasks with more precise efficiency than humans, but today in the era of digitalisation, man is leaving his humanity behind and being impressed by the efficiency of the robot, he is running blindly towards achieving its ‘pseudo-perfection’.
In increasingly robotic world, it remains to be seen which way humans will find them inclined in the coming decades, whether they will find themselves trapped in the grip of a family or will they dominate these machines with their human activities. Will our unitary family structure take shape of robotic family in the future?
