All of us might like a robot that takes away our trash, but none of us wants one that takes away our livelihood.
But since the range of future robotic applications is so vast, most of us regard that future with a mix of optimism and anxiety. This bipolar outlook is nothing new; the long, colorful history of “Hollywood robots” provides helpful insight.
If you belong to a certain generation, you might recall seeing onscreen robots that were too absurd to inspire either fear or fascination.
Ro-Man, Robot Monster (1953)
But as time passed, Hollywood’s robots became increasingly diverse and thought-provoking. For example, the C-3PO droid of Star Wars fame was a compliant, helpful robot – programmed for etiquette and seven million forms of communication.
Conversely, many automatons in cinema, like Yul Brenner’s Gunslinger in Westworld and the Robocop character in the 1987 film of the same name, went “rogue” to become heartless agents of terror. Other memorable cinematic robots attempted to replace humanity entirely like the subservient “Stepford Wives” or the “replicants” in Blade Runner.
To complete this overview of iconic cinematic robots, I queried the world’s most famous robot, ChatGPT, to weigh in on the topic. The chatbot replied…
There have been many scary robots in the history of cinema, as filmmakers have often explored the theme of artificial intelligence and robotics gone awry. Here are some of the scariest robots in cinematic history:
HAL 9000 – “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968): HAL 9000 is one of the most iconic and eerie AI characters in film history. Its calm, emotionless voice and its descent into madness make it a truly unsettling presence.
The Terminator – “The Terminator” series (1984 onwards): The Terminator, portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger, is a relentless, humanoid killing machine from the future. Its mechanical nature and determination to eliminate its targets make it a frightening antagonist.
Ava – “Ex Machina” (2014): Ava is an advanced humanoid robot with a deceptive appearance of a beautiful woman. As the film progresses, her manipulative and potentially dangerous nature becomes increasingly evident.
These are just a few examples. The fear of machines and artificial intelligence turning against humanity is a recurring theme that continues to captivate audiences.
Today, these cinematic robots from the past seem much less fanciful than they did years ago. The robots of science fiction are quickly becoming science fact…
The Robotic Solution
As late-night talk show host Jimmy Fallon joked recently, “Researchers just unveiled a robot that can play Scrabble. It’s pretty realistic. It even gets bored halfway through and stops playing.”
Robots and robotic processes of various types are already gaining widespread adoption in many industries. According to a new report by the International Federation of Robotics, global industrial robot installations totaled 553,052 last year – a new record that topped the 2020 tally by 42%.
This year, total installations should approach 600,000, according to the Federation – lifting the installed base of operational robots around the globe to more than six million.
Asia is leading the global robot race, but the U.S. and Europe are rapidly boosting their annual installations. In a survey of 1,610 U.S. and European companies carried out last year by ABB Robotics, 62% of U.S. businesses and 74% of European ones said they would be investing in robotic automation in the next three years.
This “robot rush” is still in the early innings, but a handful of powerful trends will combine to fuel a long-term boom in robotics and next-gen automation.
For starters, consider this “heretical” thought: Robots might solve a massive employment problem, not create one.
It’s true, according to an emerging school of thought, robots and AI will compensate for the tumbling worldwide population growth rate.
As the chart below shows, worldwide population growth has dropped to less than 1%.
To be clear, the population is still growing every year, but the rate of growth is dropping sharply. The wealthy nations of North America and Europe are leading the decline with natural growth rates (births minus deaths, excluding immigration) that are negative or barely positive.
This long-term trend suggests that robot “workers” might not displace humans en masse, but simply fill the void humans leave behind. In fact, the teams at ABB Robotics and at the International Federation of Robotics make this exact assertion/forecast.
As a recent report from ABB Robotics states…
Demand for robots will increase in response to global labor shortages… The impact of labor shortages is already widely felt across all industries and will continue into 2023 as the effect of ageing populations and a reluctance to take up low paid and unfulfilling employment increase. By 2030, it’s predicted that more than 85 million positions will be unfilled, hampering economic growth and presenting companies with the need to find new ways to plug gaps in workforces.
In addition to this long-term positive trend for robotics, the research teams at ABB Robotics and at the International Federation of Robotics have identified a few more factors that could accelerate demand for robots.
A short list would feature…
- Onshoring of manufacturing…
- Artificial intelligence advancements…
- And ease of use.
We’ll talk about each of these factors more in depth on Saturday, so stay tuned.
Regards,
Eric
P.S. As has been apparent this year, artificial intelligence is the name of the game. And when something this big comes to rise, it often spreads into smaller, but no less powerful, megatrends. Robotics is just one part of AI that will grow to change the world – and bring incredible profit opportunities along the way. In fact, I believe that a full-blown, AI-centered “panic” is coming… and you need to be prepared for it. I explain it all here in this brief video.
