Editorial: Robotics in production
Character bot
R2-D2, C-3PO and Marvin - who doesn't know them, the intelligent robots from the "Star Wars" series and from Douglas Adams' "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"? And who wouldn't want them at their side every day as intelligent helpers?
Of course, androids à la "Star Wars" are still a dream of the future, but more and more robots are now finding their way into our everyday lives - whether as recipients of heavy positioning tasks in production, as cobots in assembly, as service robots that show the way to noise-canceling headphones in electronics stores and provide advice, or as digital workers that select applicants in HR departments.
As the order of the list increases, so does the need for discussion. Robots have long been established as helpers on production lines, but skepticism towards them is growing the closer they come to a role that was previously perceived as purely human - the consultant in specialist retail or the HR manager in the application process.
Let's come back to the androids mentioned at the beginning: The intelligent robots from film and literature owe their broad fan base not to their technical abilities, but rather to their "character traits": R2-D2 and the "muddle-headed philosopher" C-3PO won our sympathy with their "dialogs"; we got to know and appreciate Marvin as a constantly underchallenged and depressed robot. With their humanization, Marvin and Co. achieved cult status and thus acceptance.
Some of our current and future robot applications are still a long way from this. As long as people are concerned about being replaced by machines, their acceptance will have to wait. Conversely, this means that science, industry and politics will have to do more educational work.
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