The robot uprising has begun

ATLANTA — Advancements in technology are often blamed for the loss of jobs.

And according to Emory Associate Professor of Economics Leonard Carlson, they should be.

"If you go to an automobile factory, what do you see? Robots," Carlson said.

According to Carlson, not all jobs are disappearing, just certain types.

"If you look at the numbers, there are more jobs today than there were 20 years ago. There are fewer manufacturing jobs today than there were 20 years ago," Carlson said. "Otherwise, we would still be plowing with oxen and sharp sticks kind of thing. Technology is what's allowed us to have the standard of living we have today."

%

%

Even with the improved standard of living and job increase, many believe robots and artificial intelligence will completely take over.

Channel 2 Consumer Adviser Clark Howard says that's nothing new.

"People have always been afraid of new technologies. At one time because of agriculture becoming merchandised, people thought there would never be work again. How untrue that was," Howard said.

Georgia Tech roboticist Aaron Ames agrees.

"Robots won't take over our jobs. Robots will be able to supplement us as we do jobs," he said.

Ames and his students, along with SRI International in California, built the humanoid robot, Durus.

The goal was to make the most efficient walking robot ever to exist.

This was no simple task, according to Ames.

"It's this wonderfully complex motion that humans do with almost no effort," Ames said.

While he and other roboticists have come a long way in making robots move and act like humans, Ames said they still have a long way to go.

"I think we're at the beginning of seeing robots doing what we've always wanted them to do. That's why it's so exciting right now," Ames said.

He said space exploration, along with search and recovery, are just two of the many uses for these machines.

Although Durus moves and act like a human, robots like Durus do not think like one.

"I think people get scared when they see things like that because when they see an artificial entity that acts like we do, they tend to prescribe intelligence on that entity because humans use intelligence when they move that way. But there is a big difference,” Ames explained.

The behaviors of Durus and robots like it are scripted.

Enter Georgia Tech Ph.D. student Mikhail Jacob.

Jacob developed LuminAI technology used in the LuminAI project, an exhibit that allows the technology to interact with people in the form of dance.

"It learns from all of us, stores the information and develops better reaction over time,” Jacob explained. “You're never dancing alone, you're dancing with everyone who has ever danced with the system before."

Thousands of lines of code gave the system a starting point. The rest of it learns by interacting with people, which Jacob said he thinks will be very helpful in the workplace.

"The ultimate goal would be to have a perfect computer colleague that you can interact with. Having that colleague be able to give you more than you would have just working with yourself or with another person,” Mikhail said.

Howard said a perfect computer colleague won't do you any good if you don't understand it.

"The key is to embrace the robot culture, because it could be key to you getting a job," Howard said.

Cox Media Group