America BRACE YOURSELF, AMERICA:
‘ The Robots Are Coming! The Robots Are Coming!’
Aging workers, pandemic fears, and A.I. advances fuel automation.
L BY ANDREW O. HENRY
ook for a robot coming soon to a neighbor- hood near you. That’s the message from analysts following the rapid shift to automation as companies struggle with
post-pandemic labor shortages nationwide. More and more firms are looking to robots to ease their
staffing woes. Anyone who doesn’t see a robot in their near future is probably living in denial. Long gone are the days when robots were seen as high-tech
toys or the impossibly futuristic imaginings of science fiction writers.
Increasingly, they’re viewed as practical, necessary, and
even essential features of the global economy. “Businesses just can’t find the people they need,” Jeff Burn-
stein, president of the Association for Advancing Automation, recently told Reuters. “That’s why they’re racing to automate.” You may not have noticed yet, but robots aren’t coming
anymore — they’re already here. From flipping burgers at fast-food restaurants, to restock-
ing shelves at retail outlets, to grabbing products and insert- ing them into boxes for e-commerce companies, even parents desperate to get their kids help with remote learning — robots are taking off like never before. Among the clear signs that robots are sud-
THEY’RE HERE! Spot, a robot built by Boston Dynamics, pours a beer during a demonstration at the Samuel Adams Taproom in Boston, Massachusetts. Meanwhile, a humanoid dubbed ‘ameca’ is leading the way in human-robot interactions. It has high-resolution cameras for eyes that scan the surrounding area. It can respond to the movements of a finger, but gives you an angry look if you poke it on its nose.
How Robots Aid Remote Learning W
hen the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Movia Robotics CEO J.P. Bolat had a problem. A retired Navy commander who used to fly
P-3 Orion aircraft to hunt for submarines, and who later received an MBA, Bolat himself has a child on the autism spectrum. He tells Newsmax he got interested in
using robotics in education after meeting Tim Gifford, the Movia founder who introduced him to the concept. Bolat quickly recognized how
18 NEWSMAX | APRIL 2022
denly on the rise: U.S. firms spent a record $2 billion to pur- chase some 40,000 robots last year. That marked a 28% jump over robot purchases in 2020. It’s not just a U.S. phenomenon. The Interna- tional Federation of Robotics (IFR) reports that in the global manufacturing sector, there are now 113 robots per 10,000 workers. That’s a sharp jump since 2016, when there were just 74 robots per 10,000 workers. From 2015 to 2020, IFR reports, the use of robots in the workforce nearly doubled. As consumers become more comfortable with autonomous vehicles, robot drivers are expected to make major inroads in trucking and shipping . . . and even in the ride-share industry. It may only be a matter of time
it could transform education for children with developmental dificulties. Initially, the Bristol, Connecticut-based
Movia specialized in selling robots to schools exploring robot-assisted instruction. But when all the schools shut down, that became problematic. That’s when Bolat and his team pivoted
to marketing their mechanical wonders to parents struggling with getting kids to learn
remotely. The cost of Movia instructional robots begins at a surprisingly affordable $2,388, or $199 per month, for the first year. After year one, the only cost is an $85 monthly fee for software upgrades. Movia’s robots are equipped with computer
tablets to help lead kids through lessons and activities. Parents using them say they’re making a world of difference, especially for kids with autism, attention deficit disorders, and dyslexia. Says Bolat, “Especially the children
CRAIG F. WALKER/THE BOSTON GLOBE VIA GETTY IMAGES / PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
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