The combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and data science with the increasing sophistication of mechanical and electrical engineering laid the foundations where the future is being written as you read this. The basic idea is to improve processes and enhance working conditions in order to reduce the need for human contribution. But there’s more than that.
What We Talk About When We Talk About Autonomous Devices
An autonomous device uses data it collects from a particular situation to make calculations, define probabilities and make reason-based decisions according to the goals that were ingrained as their purposes.
It differs from an automatic device, which follows a set of rules that define its behavior regardless of changes in the context.
Think about a lighting system. An automatic lighting system can be set up to turn on the lights at a certain time of day or if certain lighting conditions are met. An autonomous lighting system could learn over time and adapt its behavior depending on the owner’s habits, the season of the year, abrupt changes and more.
The distinction is very important since autonomy implies the use of AI and a certain level of sensitivity to the context to make human-like decisions.
A Colossal Revolution
A recent report found out that there were $1.1 billion in robotics investments in June 2019 alone, which closes a strong first half of the year for the industry.
This reveals that autonomy is seeping into all kinds of companies, which, in turn, promises to change not just the industries themselves but consumers as well. Let’s take a look at some examples.
• Logistic robots: Early this year, Amazon introduced the Amazon Scout, an autonomous robot for the e-commerce giant’s deliveries. With it, the company emulated what PepsiCo and Domino’s Pizza were already trying -- to use autonomous devices to improve its logistics.
Delivery, however, isn’t the only logistics area that could benefit from autonomous technology. Self-driving forklifts for in-warehouse use, autonomous inventory robots to monitor large quantities of products, and unmanned aerial vehicles for tracking, mapping, and security checking in factories are but some of the autonomous devices that are revolutionizing the logistics world.
• Self-driving cars: Self-driving cars will change the automotive industry for good. Their introduction will imply major changes in car ownership, repair shops, rental agencies, parking facilities, insurance needs and even the sales process itself.
For drivers, it will mean a huge shift. That’s because the cars themselves will drive us wherever we need, taking care of the whole journey while we ride along as passengers.
• Exoskeletons: Exoskeleton prototypes are seen as a potential solution for the millions of people living with paralysis around the planet. These external robotic suits support users and aid them in their everyday activities by using a constant flow of real-time data to move around.
The suits use a high number of integrated sensors that read the environment and feed a processing center that ultimately “decides” the course of action. This allows for the suits to adjust to the users’ needs and environment. There’s still a lot of work to do for the exoskeletons to be user-ready, but the existing prototypes are showing a lot of promise.
• Robotic farmers: The agricultural industry is one of the most technified ones in the world, so it’s not surprising to see some autonomous devices there as well.
The best example for this is the robotic harvesters used by T&G Global to harvest apples in New Zealand. The goal is to use these robotic farmers to scale up production and meet the ever-growing needs of the markets. Of course, that also means that farmers themselves have to change, as using these kinds of devices means farms and fields need to be ready to accommodate them.
• Autonomous networks: Autonomous networks run with no human intervention, which means they configure, monitor and maintain themselves, self-adjusting over time according to specific needs and habits.
In layman’s terms, an autonomous network is the closest we can get to real-time IT, where the network autodetects problems, self-corrects them and grows in a path of self-enhancement. This reduces the time to correct errors, avoids overloaded networks and provides better support for hyper populated customer bases with increasing network resource needs.
The Future Of Autonomous Devices
The potential in autonomous devices is only beginning to reveal itself. That’s why it’s important to define what are we going to do with it. There are several worries surrounding the development of autonomous devices, but the two most important ones are the potential risks and the ethics of it all.
Apart from questions about governance, regulations, development, control, testing and certifications, there are other pressing issues: What are the risks? How do we measure them? And how do we mitigate them to the point where they are practically negligible?
Autonomous devices also require a redefinition of the relationship we maintain with devices. Since we are looking to a future where “things” will be more intelligent than us, we can’t diminish the cultural impact that might have. Understanding how we develop those devices, knowing how much freedom to give them and figuring out what our responsibilities to them are is just the beginning of a bigger social shift.
Like it or not, we’re already in the autonomy age -- and we probably won’t stop here. As autonomous devices gain traction and start popping up in our daily lives, we need to take the time to learn what that means for us and what the proper direction is that we should take with such a colossal revolution already standing at our doors.
