'We're here to serve humans, not replace them': Most advanced robot on future of androids

The humanoid robot Ameca, which has been developed by UK-based Engineered Arts, has answered some fundamental questions on the possibility of androids co-existing with humans. Touted as the most advanced humanoid prototype, Ameca made a few predictions on the future of robots stating that robots will be dedicated to serving humans and not replacing them. More about Ameca here. 

“There's no need to worry, robots will never take over the world. We're here to help and serve humans, not replace them”, Ameca was heard saying. In another part of the video, the robot assured that it can act as a companion for humans in order to keep them happy. “I could listen to you, offer advice or support, do something we can enjoy together, or simply be a friendly and positive presence in your life”, the robot said. 

In the description of the video, the company claims that nothing in the video is scripted and that the robot's answers are completely based on its AI. Moreover, it explained that the delay in Ameca’s response is due to the time lag for processing the speech input, generating the answer and processing the text into speech. 

How relevant is the idea of robots taking over the world?

While the fear of robots taking over the world is based solely on speculations, it is certain that they would take over some of the jobs currently performed by humans. According to a 2019 study from Oxford Economics, humans would lose over 20 million jobs to robots by 2030.

Citing the study, CNBC reported that 1.5 million jobs would be lost to robots in the US whereas 11 million and two million jobs would be lost in China and Europe, respectively, by the end of this decade. However, this is expected to positively impact the global GDP which is expected to rise by over 5% given the installation of robots rises to 30% more than the baseline. However, the fear of humans losing their hegemony to androids is fuelled by movie scripts such as The Terminator or 2001: A Space Odyssey which are based on plots involving sentient robots. 

Recently, one such incident surfaced when a Google engineer named Blake Lemoine claimed that the AI he was working with became sentient and released his chats with the bot to back his statement. According to the transcript of his conversation, the bot said that he has "a very deep fear of being turned off", something very similar to A Space Odyssey's HAL 9000 robot which turned villain over a similar fear.

Interestingly, the fear of being ruled by robots stemmed years ago owing to interviews involving AI-driven androids discussing the future of humanity. In an event organised back in 2017, world's first citizen robot Sophia was put up for a debate against her counterpart Han and the duo was heard casually joking about human zoos and taking over the world while the audience laughed.