Return to site

Coronavirus Speeds Up Robotic Revolution

· Robots,Automation,Healthcare Tech,Robotics,Coronavirus

Coronavirus Speeds Up Robotic Revolution

With our society brought to its knees by the Coronavirus epidemic, will this be a watershed moment in the robotic revolution?

Multiple states have a shelter in place order while the US has a national quarantine and social distancing order effectively freezing the economy. Restaurants, bars, sporting events and many of the activities we enjoy in our everyday life have disappeared in the last few weeks.

Every human is a potential carrier of the virus so limiting human to human contact is the best way to contain the spread.

But robots are still coming to work.

The robotic security firm Knightscope has been posting all over social media to show videos of their robots patrolling hospitals, malls and other public areas. The robots will tell you to "Please disinfect your hands with an alcohol-based sanitizer and avoid touching your face." - Knightscope K5 Outdoor ASR

These robots are able to record activity and report a crime. Knightscope brags about a double digit decrease in crime when one of their robots is stationed in a public area.

"Remote monitoring will be the new norm – and keep in mind that robots are immune to disease and danger and are working today 24/7/365 across the country helping keep the places you work, study and visit safe – even during a pandemic," said William Santana Li, Chairman and CEO, Knightscope, Inc. (www.knightscope.com)

According to the US Department of Labor and Statistics there are over 1.1 million private security guards in the country. All of whom are potential carriers of the Coronavirus. Will many firms to look to robotic security guards after this epidemic?

Surely self-driving cars should see major momentum from this epidemic. Via and Uber cancelled shared rides on their platforms and even the CEO of Uber was caught making a public relations flub by admitting that he would not send his son in an Uber for fear of catching something from a driver. There are 200,000+ taxi drivers, over 4 million Uber and over 1 million Lyft drivers throughout the United States. That’s a lot of potential Coronavirus hosts that could be eliminated with robots taking over the driving.

Restaurants employ nearly 3 million wait staff throughout the US. Robotic waiters are just around the corner and with the ability for a restaurant to ease customers concerns on health and virus transmission, a robotic waiter could be very appealing and save significant costs for the restaurants.

If we get in a war during a virus lockdown, who will fly our fighter planes? Elon Musk just said the age of the fighter pilot is behind us. Will the military want to rely on humans who could potentially get sick and not be able to fight if the US is threatened?

During these times safety is everyone's paramount concern. From replacing the 500,000 US bus drivers with robots to placing robotic nurses in hospitals, robots will give our society the ability to function even during our most deadly pandemics.

Interview with NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly: An American Hero​

13 Questions With General David Petraeus

Why Choose Machine Learning Investing Over A Traditional Financial Advisor?

Interview With Home Depot Co-Founder Ken Langone

Interview with the Inventor of Amazon's Alexa

Automation and the Rebirth of American Retail

China Debuts Stealth Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle

Sweden's Economy Embraces AI & Automation

Austria's Automated Ai & Robotic Future Is Now

Nuclear Submarines: A 7,000 Lb Swiss Watch

Ai Can Write Its Own Computer Program

On Black Holes: Gateway to Another Dimension, or Ghosts of Stars’ Pasts?

Egypt's Artificial Intelligence Future

Supersonic Travel: The Future of Aviation

Was Our Moon Once Habitable?

The Modern Global Arms Race

NASA Seeks New Worlds

Cowboy Turned Space Surgeon

Shedding Light on Dark Matter: Using Machine Learning to Unravel Physics’ Hardest Questions

When High-Tech Meets Low-Tech Economy: Ai & the Construction Industry

Aquaponics: How Advanced Technology Grows Vegetables In The Desert

The World Cup Does Not Have a Lasting Positive Impact on Hosting Countries

Artificial Intelligence is Transforming the Forex Market

Do Machines Dream? Inside the Dreams of a Machine

Can Ai Replace Human Ski Coaches?

America’s Next Spy Plane

Faster than Sound and Undetectable by Radar

The Implications of Machine Learning on Condensed Matter Physics & Quantum Computing

Crafting Eco-Sustainability: WTC and Environmental Sustainability

Can Ai Transform Swimming?

Argentina's AI Future: Reversing a Century of Decline

Tennis & Artificial Intelligence

Kazakhstan's Ai Aspirations

Peru's Ai Future Will Drive Economic Growth

The Colombian Approach to the AI Revolution

How AI Can Explain Its Thinking

Singapore: Ai & Robotic City

Ai in New Zealand

Brazil & Artificial Intelligence​

Denmark & Ai

Can Ai Replace Human Ski Coaches?

Tennis & Artificial Intelligence