Look out, there's a robot just waiting to take over your job

Updated: 2015-01-01 09:28

By Yan Yiqi(China Daily)

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6. Cleaners

Cleaning robots like Roomba and Scooba are already famous. Their intelligence in cleaning a certain area and automatically finding the right place to recharge themselves saves humans a great deal of effort.

In China, we hear sad news about street cleaners being hit by cars every year. That wouldn't be a problem if robots replaced these cleaners for their more dangerous jobs. They can be programmed to stay away from a moving car. This is also the case for replacing people for cleaning the outside walls and windows of tall buildings.

A robot designed by Harbin Institute of Technology can climb up to 70 meters within seconds and move horizontally at a speed of 10 meters a minute. It is also capable of moving on curved surfaces and gutters.

By moving up and down at high speed, the robot can replace the workload of at least four human cleaners.

7. Journalists

Yes, readers might be reading a piece of news written by robots. With a set of programs, robots are able to analyze data, pick key words and draw a conclusion. They can then combine the elements into simple words.

For data analysis-based news such as financial reports and sports reports, robots are more efficient than real journalists. And, of course, they are much lower-paid.

Associated Press started to use artificial intelligence software to write financial statement reports in July. The software can save 90 percent of writing time so AP can guarantee an immediate release of these reports. AP also uses software to analyze sports rankings and game results.

It is bad news for financial and sports journalists, but not for those who write feature stories. Robots are not able to be programmed for creative writing-yet.

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