Apart from digital transformation, my friends and family will know that the other passion in my life is sport. So, when the two come together it is somewhat of a revelation in my eyes.
With that in mind, I’ve observed with great interest the increasing presence of technology on the golf course: sensors for checking the moisture of the grass, robotic lawnmowers, AI to help players improve their technique, the list goes on. Which made me think – how is this smart technology impacting the individuals who work on the fairways alongside these new machines? As robots and AI become ubiquitous across all industries how will we all have to adapt in order to interact with our future robotic co-workers?
Some industries are already further ahead in this experiment than others. For a long time, manufacturers have used intelligent machines to do tasks from assembling cars, to making trainers, as seen with Adidas’ new Speedfactory. But in these scenarios, the machines rarely talk to us or take the physical shape of a person, which might impact how we think, feel and behave around them.
A couple of years ago I read about an incident in the US where a shopping center security robot, which moved around the complex and spoke with its colleagues and shoppers, accidentally drove itself into a pond. The reaction of the machine’s co-workers was extremely interesting as they all rushed to its aid and tried to rescue it. I am pretty sure that if this machine had not had a ‘personality’ the emotional reaction may not have been quite so extreme.
I’m sure that nobody – myself included – is innocent of shouting profanities at their computer when it isn’t working, particularly when they have an impending deadline to hit. But, would we be so rude if the computer or machine resembled human traits? I’m always saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ to our Alexa at home. Personally, I put that down to the voice assistant embodying a person. That said, some would argue it is ‘just’ a machine, so why should manners matter? There are valid arguments for both sides. What’s more, if we end up building relationships with machines there could also be a danger that if something negative happens, for example the robot breaks, there could be an impact on staff productivity levels as they ‘mourn’ their robot colleague.
Legal ramifications should also be taken in to account. Right now, if an employee felt they were being abused by a co-worker they could go ahead and sue if they so wished. But what if a person felt their robot manager was doing wrong (perhaps as a result of inherent bias that had crept in via machine learning) – what would happen in that scenario? People may accept the conclusions made by AI as gospel, so it could be difficult to challenge a robot based on their actions. Moreover, as robotic surgery increases who is responsible for any errors it makes – the attending health care professional, the AI programmer or the manufacturer? That’s why the EU’s new ethics guidelines for trustworthy AI were so desperately needed, but it is important that guidelines such as these are continually updated as new use cases for AI and robots are found.
Given the potential psychological effects, customer experiences or legal issues that could emerge as we work alongside robots more and more, it is important for both business and government to prepare for the inevitable impact. Even though Google’s recent attempts to launch a global advisory council to offer guidance on ethical issues relating to artificial intelligence, automation, and related technologies, fell through, it was extremely forward thinking, and I encourage more organizations to try and replicate their initiative.
I don’t think we are in danger of an ‘I, Robot’ scenario – but we need to be more aware of the potential issues that could arise in the future and develop guidelines and regulation – both compliance and social - around how the technology should be used in the workplace. Unlike golf, employees’ lives are not a game – and the C-suite needs to act now to guarantee their staff’s health and safety at work alongside the experiences they are providing to their customers.
