DISADVANTAGES OF ROBOTS TO HUMANS

According to the dictionary, robot defines as a machine capable of carrying

out a complex series of actions automatically, especially one programmable by a

computer (Oxford, 2015). Basically, robots are machines that are designed to carry

out tasks that you want to do. The use of robots has now become worldwide; every

country has their own part in this robotics world. Today, robots can be found working

for humans in warehouses, factories, companies and even in laboratories. In future,

robots may appear in common places like in our homes, our schools and even our

bodies. Technically, robots are able to manipulate our economy, our health, our

knowledge and the world that surrounds us. Although robots are obviously beneficial

to mankind and now performing most of the important tasks, there are also clear

disadvantages of robots, such as costly production, huge loss of jobs and lack of

conscience.

First and foremost, companies need high amount of cash in order to invest on

robotics machinery. Robots cost so much that sometimes it may go up to millions of

dollars and companies tend to invest huge amounts of money in order to purchase the

robots, install it, and give training programs to employees on how to operate it.

Besides, if sometimes costs greater than the financial budget, and not to be forgotten

that they need regular maintenance to ensure they are in good condition. The

International Federation of Robotics latest statistics show that $19 billion of service

robots will be sold between 2010 and 2013 (Soares, 2010). If companies fail to invest

in this business within the budget limit, it could cause catastrophic fall in the stock

market and eventually the company will suffer from bankruptcy.  

Secondly, there has been a chance where manufacturing employees suffers

from loss of jobs, or have their working hours cut due to the presence of robots being

in their working position. Manufacturing companies are turning more and more to the

use of robotics. Robots are slowly taking over skilled and unskilled labour jobs. In

fact, studies show that most of the manufacturers use robotics in their production

process. Last year, the number of industrial robots sold globally hit a record high of

179,000, according to the International Federation of Robotics (BBC, 2014).

Basically, robots can be found performing specific tasks in several industries, such as

car manufacturing, food processing and many more. As a result, the rate of people

being unemployed will increase gradually, and these people who are jobless will

become poorer while the company owners will get richer. It can be frustrating to

people when robots snatches away their jobs despite the fact that robots do not need

money to survive. In addition, fresh graduates will find it tough to be employed, thus

making them hard to live independently.

Last but not least, robots are not perfect enough and cannot behave in the same

way humans do. Robots cannot think like humans, which means that they cannot

make choices or think beyond the task they are given. Robots may not respond

properly when some unexpected occurs or in times of an emergency. For example, a

robot might not be able to call for help or help them when someone is caught in a

burning house. Similarly, robots do not have emotions, and they are lack of sympathy.

They do not have the ability to comfort a person who is in a sad situation or share the

moments of joy with humans. On the other hand, the intelligence of a robot comes

from its programming and knowledge base. In spite of all the intelligence built into it,

humans are unable to create artificial conscience and consciousness

(Electronicsforum, 2014). As a result, this decreases the limit of robots interacting

with humans.

In a nutshell, robots are highly expensive, can decrease the availability of jobs

and do not have feelings, despite having numerous benefits to mankind.

With robots becoming a common machine each and every day, it is important to

understand both the advantages as well as the disadvantages that a robot can have.

The negative side of robots towards society should not be ignored. This will ensure

people to understand when is the right time to use and when not to.