(July 18, 2012) In our
economy, many of the jobs most resistant to automation are those with the least
economic value. Just consider the diversity of tasks, unpredictable terrains,
and specialized tools that a landscaper confronts in a single day. No robot is
intelligent enough to perform this $8-an-hour work.
But what
about a robot remotely controlled by a low-wage foreign worker?
Several elements of this
scenario are no longer science fiction. Companies now produce and sell robots
(including the VGo, iRobot’s Ava, and Willow Garage’s Texai) that allow users
to navigate through a remote working environment, interacting by means of a
computer screen. So far these systems have limited functionality (some dub them
“Skype on wheels”), and they’ve mostly been used for high-value problems
involving costly experts. InTouch Health’s RP-7, for example, was designed to
let doctors remotely diagnose stroke patients, since smaller hospitals often
can’t afford a neurologist on staff.
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Hollywood has been imagining the technologies we would need.
Jake Sully, the wheelchair-using protagonist in James Cameron’s Avatar, goes to
work saving a distant planet via a wireless connection to a remote body. He
interacts with others, learns new skills, and even gets married—all while his
“real” body is lying on a slab, miles away.
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