The robot revolution is here, but it’s much more benign than scenes from The Terminator would have us believe. Metropolitan cities around the world are emerging from their post-pandemic slump smarter, digitised and better equipped to integrate new technologies to improve efficiency and safety, and reduce their carbon footprint.
Robots are reaching cities in myriad ways: food delivery services are trialling robot couriers, while Google’s parent company is pushing to put robot taxis on the road. Robotics are filling worker shortages at a record rate, while some police departments are exploring ways to increase use of robots on the frontlines.
But the reach of robots can go well beyond bringing takeaway and taking people to the airport. If embraced, robotics could manifest in every facet of our urban lives — one could wake up in an apartment that was constructed with the help of automation, have their heating system regulated by deep intelligence, and then step out to a clean street that had been swept overnight by a service bot.
