Panel 1 Position Paper: Man versus Machines–Humans Need Not Apply

Computing machines, it seems, have been becoming more deeply embedded in our lives. Today, this alliance with computers is taking shape as competition with robots for jobs that are becoming increasingly mechanized, be it on the smart factory floor, or next to hospital beds, or humanoid robots making elderly Japanese laugh, or even cognitive cooking. Should we be concerned at this development or just think of this as another agricultural revolution or Gutenberg’s printing press revolution with a bonanza of benefits in retrospect? What about human-robot cooperation, could that be a happy medium? Or, are machines destined to take over more facets of our lives at work and at play, like the sensors monitoring our sleep patterns and helping to improve sleep quality. Would you consider scenarios like some of the ones mentioned above to be a threat or an entry ramp to utopia? Some questions to think of: What are the jobs where robots can or should have only a marginal role? Where can man and machine work together? How do we guarantee that the machine stays tamed? Does AI pose an existential threat?