I’ve been blogging on this wonderful Computer Geeks site for over two years now. I’ve learned lots. I’ve learned Japan is robot obsessed! They’ve got everything from robot girlfriends to all-robot operated hotels. Guess what they came up with now?
Here I am introducing robot boss. Last week, Japanese multinational conglomerate Hitachi announced an artificial intelligence boss called AI to dispatch employee duties, responsibilities and work times. In fact, they put AI in charge of warehouse management. Somehow, AI managed to get an 8 percent work production increase among it’s human employees. In that same statement, Hitachi praised AI for this increase, and wants to further AI and human cooperation. Yes, ?machines and humans have been working together since the 18th century, when the Industrial Revolution began. But this is a level virtually unheard of 20 years ago. Hitachi’s AI robot has the authority to send out tasks, quickly adjust work orders, even adjust work orders depending on inclement weather. This fusion of human and artificial intelligence is part of a Japanese business concept called kaizen. That basically means employers, managers and workers are always urged to improve work production, and implement new ways to do so.
I’m not a fan of humanizing robots, unless they’re in movies or on TV. But this robot boss could go either way. You can’t get away with blame it on the weather…because apparently, AI will find you out. But if I were at Hitachi, I would miss the human approach of having a boss/manager. Who is going to invite me to barbecues and other company outings? Who is going to praise or raise me when I do a good job? Who is going to teach and correct me when I’m doing wrong? Who will I go to for advice? But then again, do you think a robot is going to fire me for pulling an office prank or throwing an unexpected office party behind his back?