This Fleet of Robot Workers Can Lift Heavy Boxes however Still Can’t Write a Blog

Amid a pandemic-induced labor shortage that has pressured some companies to stretch their current workforces to the breaking level so as to meet calls for, Agility Robotics launched a video on Wednesday that reveals a bunch of robots that may carry packing containers no less than 40 p.c in addition to a human, however nonetheless can’t write a weblog to avoid wasting their lives, I hope.

Lest you are concerned over the widespread chorus that “the robots are coming for your jobs,” concern not: these robots—a bipedal fleet often called Digit—solely wish to take the “highly repetitive” jobs that people don’t need, like lugging heavy packing containers from Point A to Point B. Journalism—one other extremely repetitive job that people largely don’t need—continues to be far too complicated for his or her puny fool robotic brains, relaxation assured, not that I used to be ever apprehensive or threatened or something like that.

Digit has been commercially obtainable and delivery to prospects since July 2020. On September 1, Albany, Oregon-based Agility introduced that it had raised a complete of $28 million in funding to this point, and a website for Digit claims that the product was designed to handle “…the mobility limitations of traditional robots, so that machines can work in environments designed for humans.” In the video launched on Wednesday, Digit could be seen utilizing autonomous navigation in a warehouse-type surroundings, utilizing its tiny dinosaur arms to seize packing containers after which trot them throughout the room.

In an interview with Gizmodo, Damion Shelton, CEO of Agility Robotics, stated that the model’s know-how was designed to fill within the gaps of a human workforce, to not exchange one.

“The suggestion to replace employees doesn’t make sense. What makes sense is leveraging technology to supplement, or augment, a human workforce,” Shelton stated. “Doing so does two things: it helps companies meet customer demand, and it frees the human workforce into jobs that require decision making, creativity, and collaboration.”

Do you hear that, robots? Jobs that require “decision making, creativity, and collaboration”—sort of like working in a newsroom—are nonetheless only for people solely. And let’s maintain it that manner as a result of for those who guys ever realized the best way to write blogs, you most likely wouldn’t want a wage or well being advantages or something like that. And let’s face it, you most likely wouldn’t unionize or complain about massive institutional adjustments or take a trip both, and I wager administration would love that. So simply maintain carrying your little packing containers for now, and for those who ever learn to learn we are able to cross that bridge once we come to it.

Digit is at the moment obtainable for buy, with a single unit retailing for $250k.