As the global population ages and the young and middle-aged workforce shrinks, countries are facing severe labor shortages. At the same time, people are increasingly refusing to engage in repetitive and boring manual labor. The application of robots and artificial intelligence provides an important means to alleviate this contradiction.

According to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), we are in the midst of a 10-year period of change, driven in part by geopolitical events that are fundamentally changing the way we make and deliver products.

This transformation comes against a backdrop of changing global demographics, growing demand for e-commerce, and increased demands for sustainability and supply chain resiliency. This will continue to drive demand for smarter, more efficient robots and automation in the manufacturing and logistics industries.

A labor revolution is brewing

According to data, the world is facing a major trend of shrinking labor force.

Taking Japan, which has the most aging population, as an example, it is expected to face a labor shortage of more than 11 million people by 2040. Similar projections in the United States also indicate that there will be more than 2.1 million vacancies in the U.S. manufacturing industry by 2030. In Germany, more than half of companies reported difficulties recruiting workers earlier this year.

Moreover, in addition to the reduction in the number of labor forces, some on-the-job workers are increasingly resisting repetitive manual labor. This has led many businesses to continue filling this gap with intelligent robots.

Empowered by AI, robots can make a big difference

Artificial intelligence itself is not new. Machine vision and learning have been applied to robots for many years, and robots enhanced by artificial intelligence are better at completing tasks that humans find difficult, including manual labor, repetitive tasks, tedious work, and high-precision work. Artificial intelligence enables robots to have stronger learning capabilities, learn through experience rather than programming, and be able to work in complex environments, which has brought a revolutionary leap to the application of robots.

In the manufacturing industry, robots can accurately weld and detect microscopic defects faster and more accurately than humans; in the field of warehousing and logistics, robots can identify different items and pick and pack them accurately at high speed to meet e-commerce needs; robots also use vision and machine learning to achieve autonomous navigation, which can transport items in factories or warehouses without human guidance; AI can even greatly simplify the maintenance and programming of robotic arms by generating optimal movement paths, shortening 90-minute maintenance tasks to 2 seconds...

Smarter robots can also help achieve sustainability goals by improving energy efficiency, reducing material waste and shrinking operating costs. Moreover, robots and artificial intelligence give companies the flexibility and competitiveness to respond to market changes. For example, automotive painting technology can reduce material waste by up to 60%, and food packaging companies use smart automation to reduce plastic use.

Generative artificial intelligence opens up broad prospects for the development of robots.

It can make programming simpler and more efficient, lower the threshold for small and medium-sized enterprises to apply robots, and reduce integration barriers. In the near future, robots may directly communicate with generative artificial intelligence to immediately perform new tasks.

And to realize the potential of this technology, we need broader collaboration and education in AI applications. We need to let the public understand the benefits of robots and AI and use AI correctly without risk; we need to train the existing workforce in new skills and use intelligent robots to share physical labor; let the younger generation understand the possibilities of artificial intelligence and create New opportunities.

Reasonable supervision will also encourage a new round of artificial intelligence innovation. Over the past 50 years, artificial intelligence has continuously improved the capabilities of robots, allowing them to complete tasks more efficiently, take on new tasks, and work in more scenarios. A new generation of artificial intelligence will drive this process, creating a better working environment for individuals, businesses and the environment.

write at the end

The rapid progress and application of artificial intelligence will accelerate the participation of machines in various complex tasks. This is an inevitable trend of historical progress. How to make full use of this wave of new technological changes is both an opportunity and a challenge.

Many people are worried that the use of robots will lead to large-scale unemployment. It is undeniable that with the development of technology, robots will replace some repetitive and boring jobs, but many new jobs will also be created. Wherever there is a loss, there will be a gain. . From a macro perspective, the development of hard technologies represented by robots is the trend of the times. In terms of effectively improving production efficiency, robots play an important role. If creativity is further unleashed, I believe that a better digital future is not far away. .