Spread of robotic labor and shift in industrial structure (early 2010s)

Spread of robotic labor and shift in industrial structure (early 2010s)

In the 2010s, industrial and service robots began to spread rapidly. In the hotel and restaurant industries in particular, more and more room service and simple cooking tasks were delegated to robots in order to save labor and reduce labor costs. In major cities in the U.S. and Japan, robots that deliver toothbrushes to guest rooms and specialized robots that automatically cook hamburgers were actually introduced and attracted a lot of attention.

There were two factors behind this trend. First, companies were forced to cut costs due to the economic stagnation after the financial crisis. Second, advances in sensors, AI, and cloud control were creating the technological infrastructure to enable robots to perform simple tasks previously performed by humans.

In 2013, a study published by Frey and Osborn of Oxford University made a huge impact by predicting that 47% of U.S. jobs could be replaced by automation. In particular, middle-skilled jobs such as clerical, sales, and transportation were considered most at risk. The report sparked discussion of a "second machine age," a future in which the industrial structure would be shaken to its very foundations.

At the time, attention was also focused on the Kiva robot introduced at Amazon's warehouse, which dramatically increased efficiency, and the wave of automation in logistics and retail was quickly accelerating. In Japan, as a measure to cope with the declining birthrate, aging population, and labor shortages, there was a flurry of service robot demonstration tests, which generated a mixture of social expectation and concern.

While the expansion of robot labor brought convenience and efficiency, it also posed the risk of job loss and widening income inequality. Whether technological innovation would take away human jobs or create new occupations - the era of searching for answers to these questions began at this very time.