The world is divided: There are the techno-optimists who believe the more tech, the better – but then there are the techno-pessimists, who think all this tech may bad for us. Judging by the robots on display at the world’s biggest tech show this week, they may have a point.
Advancements in technology are always designed to make our lives easier, but that very often comes at a cost. Some of the latest tech presented at the CES fair in Las Vegas highlighted the next group of human professionals that could face losing their jobs in the near future.
Technology and gadgets on display at the CES are casting a dark shadow over these three human lines of work.
Human Interpreters VS Google Assistant
Google Assistant is now a translator. The bot can be used to help out when checking in at hotels – for now, that’s all. All you need is a Google display or smart speaker though, so it’s not unimaginable that the leap from the service industry could be made sooner rather than later.
With your device, switch on Interpreter Mode and the software will listen to every sentence you say in one language, and repeats what you said in the other language.
The feature can translate around two dozen languages including German, French, Italian, Swedish, Russian, Korean and Japanese. Unfortunately, there aren’t very many humans that can match that number of languages – and Google Assistant will work for free, too.
Human Bakers VS The Breadbot
An automated baking machine could also be a game-changer: The Wilkinson Baking Company has unveiled the BreadBot baker, which can produce bread loaves that are “fresher, healthier, preservative free and eco-friendly,” the company says.
The machine can make 10 loaves an hour and operate for up to 24 hours straight, which means retailers can programme the bot to start making bread hours before the first employees arrive for work. The machine also reduces delivery expenses and the environmental effects of distribution.
The fully-automated bot can produce all kinds of bread using different ingredient combinations as well – all you need to do is give the machine the ingredients and it will have the first loaf of bread ready within 90 minutes.
Human Drivers VS Driverless Cars
With the growth of the electric car and the coming dawn of autonomous driving, some of the biggest names in the industry took to CES to show how their focus has shifted towards driverless cars.
One example is Mercedes’ new CLA, which is less about design or engine size and more about its MBUX operating system, which now also reacts to gestures and features from passengers and boasts an improved voice control with natural dialogue.
Its a trend that prevails throughout the fair. Kia’s concept can recognise the mood of the occupants and can, for example, automatically adjust the climate and interior of the vehicle to it.
Audi is offering back-seat computer games where the virtual reality content matches the real-time movements of the vehicle. Meanwhile anyone who sits down in the BMW iNext feels more like they are in a living room than a car with its hidden electronics.
It’s the clearest signal so far that the industry is in no doubt that autopilot will, perhaps sooner than expected, be taking the wheel from drivers in the future.
In another glimpse of what is to come, car or ride sharing in public robotic shuttles, has also been teased.
These new vehicles, battery powered of course, will cruise autonomously through cities, be ordered by app, and automatically plan their routes in such a way that as many people get to their destinations as possible. – dpa
