THE RISE OF THE ROBOTS WILL ALWAYS NEED THAT HUMAN TOUCH
▶ Balance of AI and human subtlety discussed at Gitex Technology Week
The rise of the robots may be closer than we think – but the human touch will always be vital.
The effect of automation was discussed at a TechTalks seminar on the second day of Gitex Technology Week at Dubai World Trade Centre ysterday.
From taking over giant warehouse operations such as those used by Amazon that were once reliant on manual labour, to replacing immigration officials to speed up the flow of travellers through busy airport, the robot workforce is making its presence felt.
Robots are firmly embedded in society and their presence is only going to become more influential in everyday life, a leading digital retailer said.
“We used to imagine robotics were the kind of things you would see in Star Wars, but the reality is a lot different and more subtle,” said Ashish Panjabi, chief operating officer at Jacky’s, the electronics retailer.
“They have a variety of functions, and are used when human beings define a problem and then solve it with robotics.
“It is being used more commonly in retail..”
Pepper was the first robot in the world capable of reading and responding to human emotion and was used in Nescafe outlets in Japan.
Through voice and emotion-recognition technology, Pepper could read people’s facial expressions and listen to their tone of voice to analyse how they were feeling to determine what product they might be most suitable for.
In 2012, Amazon acquired Kiva Systems, a maker of robots that service warehouses, for $775 million (Dh2.8 billion) to expand its vast network of warehouses and improve its margins, replace human error and speed up operations.
Students in the UAE are already planning for a future in which robotics will have a great influence on their working lives.
“Our students are looking to the future to ask what will their jobs look like and how will their engineering skills be applied,” said Matthew Karau, assistant professor at New York University, Abu Dhabi.
“We have seen how this is used in logistics. Rather than improve the capabilities of a forklift truck in a warehouse system, for example, shelving systems are now operated robotically to change the way the whole system operates.
“Students in the UAE can make a huge impact in this region by taking their ideas to the rest of the world.”
The Dubai Future Accelerators programme is a collaboration between top international companies and entrepreneurs to address seven key “21st-century opportunities”.
This includes the application of cutting-edge technologies such as AI and robotics, genomics, 3D printing, distributed ledgers and biotechnology, as well as new business models and ways of working.
“We are looking at different applications in government, and want to use robotics for tasks where people would either get tired or have their judgment impaired by emotion,” said Khalifa Al Qama, head of future platforms at the Dubai Future Foundation, which is hosting the programme.”
Car criminals in the UAE should be very afraid about the introduction of Dubai Police’s latest wheeled weapon, the Beast Patrol, which was launched at Gitex this week.
The collaboration between the police, Dubai-based car company W Motors and the Abu Dhabi-based Safe City Group has been called “the most-advanced police vehicle in the world”.
Gitex runs at Dubai World Trade Centre until Thursday.