Will robots replace human workers because of COVID-19?

Charlotte Eykerman & Nanor Pontigian Opinion Editor and Science & Tech Editor, The Pawprint

During this pandemic, people are no longer thinking about one of the biggest threats to humanity. This threat that people believe in is the danger of robots taking over.  

Many analysts have been saying that robots will still soon take over our planet and the Coronavirus is in fact helping speed up the process. 

Martin Ford, a futurist who has written about different ways that robots will be involved in society, said that usually most people appreciate human contact and human interactions, but now COVID-19 has changed that. This will begin to affect consumer preferences, and make people open to the idea of automation. 

Currently, all companies either small or big have started to consider different ways to incorporate robots, to keep their business going but ensuring social distancing at the same time. Countries like South Korea and the UAE, have started using robots to measure temperatures and to distribute hand sanitizer across the airport.

Robots are proving to be important with food in particular, there have been many health concerns about food services.  

Restaurants like Mcdonalds, are testing robots for the jobs of both cooks and servers. 

In Amazon and Walmart, there was already a great use of robots for efficiency but the Coronavirus has these companies looking into other ways to increase the use of robots. 

After human roles have been replaced by robots, they are unlikely to rehire any humans back anytime soon. The actual making and testing of the robots is quite expensive, but once they are running perfectly they become much cheaper to afford than normal humans. 

While there are still limitations to this, like faulty systems and problems, in this situation customers care more about health and are likely to support the companies who are increasing automation.