Does this sound like an exciting future or a dystopian nightmare to you?
When you picture yourself working in the future, what do you see? Do you think of working in an office, in a factory, in a restaurant, on a farm or at home? What do you think your workplace will be like? Have you ever imagined robots as a part of your future work world? Does the thought of working alongside moving and thinking machines excite you, or does it make you uncomfortable? In “Meet Your New Corporate Office Mate: A ‘Brainless’ Robot,” John Yoon and Daisuke Wakabayashi write about Naver, a South Korean internet firm, that is trying to introduce robots to the corporate workplace: The new workers zipped around the office completing mundane tasks like fetching coffee, delivering meals and handing off packages. They did not get in anyone’s way or violate personal space. They waited unobtrusively for elevators with unfailing politeness. And, perhaps most enticingly, they did not complain.
That’s because they were robots. Naver — a soup-to-nuts internet conglomerate in South Korea — has been experimenting with integrating robots into office life for several months. Inside a futuristic, starkly industrial, 36-story high-rise on the outskirts of Seoul, a fleet of about 100 robots cruise around on their own, moving from floor to floor on robot-only elevators and sometimes next to humans, rolling through security gates and entering meeting rooms. Naver’s network of web services, including a search engine, maps, email and news aggregation, is dominant in South Korea, but its reach abroad is limited, lacking the global renown of a company like Google. The company has been on the hunt for new avenues for growth. In October, it agreed to acquire Poshmark, an online secondhand retailer, for $1.2 billion. Now, Naver sees the software that powers robots in corporate office spaces as a product that other companies may eventually want. Robots have found a home in other workplaces, such as factories and in retail and hospitality, but they are largely absent from the white-collar world of cubicles and conference rooms. There are thorny privacy questions: A machine teeming with cameras and sensors roaming company hallways could be a dystopian tool of corporate surveillance if abused, experts say. Designing a space where machines can move freely without disturbing employees also presents a complicated challenge.
But Naver has done extensive research to make sure that its robots — which resemble a rolling garbage can — look, move and behave in a way that makes employees comfortable. And as it develops its own robot privacy rules, it hopes to write the blueprint for the office robots of the future.
The article continues: As part of its research, Naver has also published studies in the field of human-robot interaction. After a series of experiments, for example, Naver concluded that the optimal spot for a robot in a crowded elevator with humans was the corner next to the entrance on the side opposite of the elevator buttons. Putting the robot at the back of the elevator made humans uncomfortable, Naver’s researchers found. The company’s engineers also designed animated eyes that gaze in the direction that the robot is headed. They found that employees were better able to anticipate the robot’s movement if they could see its gaze. None of the machines look human. Mr. Kang said the company did not want to give people the false impression that robots would behave like human beings. (Some robotics experts believe that humanoid robots make humans more, not less, uncomfortable.)
Naver, of course, isn’t the only tech company trying to advance robot technology. Rice Robotics has deployed hundreds of cartoonish, boxy robots that deliver packages, groceries and more in office buildings, shopping malls and convenience stores around Asia. Robots like Optimus, a prototype that Tesla unveiled in September, are designed to be more like humans, and carry boxes, water plants and more, but they are a long way from being deployed.
People, once you've read the entire article, then tell us: Does the Naver workplace sound like a thrilling future or a dystopian nightmare? Would you like to work alongside robots someday? Why or why not? What worries would you have about working among robots? What kind of issues would it raise? What questions does this technology raise? What would be exciting about working with robots? What could a robotic office mate do for you? Naver intentionally designed its robots not to look like humans and to be “brainless.” Do you think humanlike robots would make you more or less comfortable? Why? A company is trying to introduce robots into the corporate workplace. Does this sound like an exciting future or a dystopian nightmare to you?
That’s because they were robots. Naver — a soup-to-nuts internet conglomerate in South Korea — has been experimenting with integrating robots into office life for several months. Inside a futuristic, starkly industrial, 36-story high-rise on the outskirts of Seoul, a fleet of about 100 robots cruise around on their own, moving from floor to floor on robot-only elevators and sometimes next to humans, rolling through security gates and entering meeting rooms. Naver’s network of web services, including a search engine, maps, email and news aggregation, is dominant in South Korea, but its reach abroad is limited, lacking the global renown of a company like Google. The company has been on the hunt for new avenues for growth. In October, it agreed to acquire Poshmark, an online secondhand retailer, for $1.2 billion. Now, Naver sees the software that powers robots in corporate office spaces as a product that other companies may eventually want. Robots have found a home in other workplaces, such as factories and in retail and hospitality, but they are largely absent from the white-collar world of cubicles and conference rooms. There are thorny privacy questions: A machine teeming with cameras and sensors roaming company hallways could be a dystopian tool of corporate surveillance if abused, experts say. Designing a space where machines can move freely without disturbing employees also presents a complicated challenge.
But Naver has done extensive research to make sure that its robots — which resemble a rolling garbage can — look, move and behave in a way that makes employees comfortable. And as it develops its own robot privacy rules, it hopes to write the blueprint for the office robots of the future.
The article continues: As part of its research, Naver has also published studies in the field of human-robot interaction. After a series of experiments, for example, Naver concluded that the optimal spot for a robot in a crowded elevator with humans was the corner next to the entrance on the side opposite of the elevator buttons. Putting the robot at the back of the elevator made humans uncomfortable, Naver’s researchers found. The company’s engineers also designed animated eyes that gaze in the direction that the robot is headed. They found that employees were better able to anticipate the robot’s movement if they could see its gaze. None of the machines look human. Mr. Kang said the company did not want to give people the false impression that robots would behave like human beings. (Some robotics experts believe that humanoid robots make humans more, not less, uncomfortable.)
Naver, of course, isn’t the only tech company trying to advance robot technology. Rice Robotics has deployed hundreds of cartoonish, boxy robots that deliver packages, groceries and more in office buildings, shopping malls and convenience stores around Asia. Robots like Optimus, a prototype that Tesla unveiled in September, are designed to be more like humans, and carry boxes, water plants and more, but they are a long way from being deployed.
People, once you've read the entire article, then tell us: Does the Naver workplace sound like a thrilling future or a dystopian nightmare? Would you like to work alongside robots someday? Why or why not? What worries would you have about working among robots? What kind of issues would it raise? What questions does this technology raise? What would be exciting about working with robots? What could a robotic office mate do for you? Naver intentionally designed its robots not to look like humans and to be “brainless.” Do you think humanlike robots would make you more or less comfortable? Why? A company is trying to introduce robots into the corporate workplace. Does this sound like an exciting future or a dystopian nightmare to you?
