Working Metal

Working Metal

The United States, along with many other countries is beginning to move to robotics to help with the workload of many companies. Working robots are becoming a more affordable and logical source of production. Pretty soon they will be found in all major factories. The problem with this is that robots are replacing humans on the job. Some people are saying that all robots should be banned from the work force. On the other hand, people are saying to use them as helpers only. However, there is a much better solution to this problem than the two previous stated. The most plausible solution to the robots pilfering human jobs would be to hire humans to supervise, build, and repair these robots.

A robotic worker is a robot that is programmed to do a certain task that the employer needs. One of the more popular robotic workers is the robotic welding system. In the 1990's welding robots installed grew to the average rate of 12 percent per year. In 1999, this number grew to 32 percent (Your First). There are many other uses for the robotic workers. Often they are found in assembly lines because it is much easier and cost efficient to have many robots with basic jobs, as opposed to few robots that can do all of the duties. Companies are beginning to look at robotic workers because of their ability to produce at much higher rates. William Donahue, president of A.P.S says, "We have systems that have one robot servicing up to four production lines, and palletizing four different products simultaneously. Two robotic cells are capable of handling eight production lines that palletize 240 cases of food product per minute."

A human worker would not be able to come close to these statistics. The percent of job loss in America is around 7 percent (Brumson). Often, the question posed by this problem is not if they are cost efficient but if it is ethical and morally right to have them since they are taking so many jobs. It does not have to be a moral issue if individuals can learn to use them to their advantage.

At first most people thought it would be best to get rid of the machines altogether. It is true that this will leave more jobs open for human employees. These people also argue that human workers produce a more quality product, and if these robots weren't around there would be many more jobs for humans to be employed to work. If these individuals would step back and look at the big picture they would see that robots are very useful. Robots are often employed to do repetitive and monotonous jobs. Sometimes they are hired to do jobs hazardous to human workers (Ethical Issues). There are over 100 million workers in ergonomic hazardous jobs. Companies will often employ the robots to protect the employee as well as the employer. The robots are taking their place to save the humans lives and health (Will). By implementing the use of the robot workers, risk of injury or death is dramatically reduced. This not only saves lives, it saves the employers wallet. The cost of paying for the medical bills and time off for recovery is easily offset by the cost of the robotics. Workers can not contest to not working dangerous jobs. Not many individuals enjoy getting hurt or can afford to in their daily life.

Robotics are beginning to be used extensively in medical surgery. The first generation of surgical robots is already being installed in hospitals nationwide. They are used to help the surgeon be more precise in his or her tasks. It gives the surgeon ultimate control in the cuts of the procedures (Bonsor). No matter how skilled a surgeon is, there is still a high chance of an inappropriate incision or cut. Mechanical surgical aids are often more sterile than the human hand. The surgical robots can also provide a camera so the surgeon can see what he or she is doing without opening the patient up anymore than they should be. "How Stuff Works" explains gallbladder surgery using robotics:

In using da Vinci for gallbladder surgery, three incisions -- no larger than the diameter of a pencil -- are made in the patient's abdomen, which allows for three stainless-steel rods to be inserted. The rods are held in place by three robotic arms. One of the rods is equipped with a camera, while the other two are fitted with surgical instruments that are able to dissect and suture the tissue of the gallbladder. Unlike in conventional surgery, these instruments are not directly touched by the doctor's hands (Robotic).

In this case robots aren't taking anyone's job; they are in fact helping save people's lives and preventing some from injury.

Another possible solution to the working robot epidemic would be to use robots as helpers. Instead of replacing workers by robots altogether, it would be best to just give those human employees a helper robot. These robots would be used to assist the human employee with tasks that may be hard for a human to do, such as multiple precise cuts or assembly of car parts. For example, Ford has just introduced the new "3-D VGR," which helps robotic workers to see and perform the same tasks human workers would. "A key benefit of robotics handling and assembly is protecting workers from having to perform dangerous and heavy lifting operations thereby limiting injuries and injury related costs (Ford)." Robots helping with the dangerous jobs sounds like a great idea, but robots are often prone to breaking down. In a sense, this is the same as a human worker getting hurt. The cost of maintaining the robots