The July/August edition of Foreign Affairs features an in-depth piece by Prof. Daniela Rus on the future of robotics. Rus writes that robots will extend the digital revolution “into the physical realm and deeper into everyday life, with consequences that will be equally profound.”
Boston Globe Magazine reporter Neil Swidey travels to Singapore to learn more about Prof. Emilio Frazzoli’s work developing autonomous vehicles with the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART). Frazzoli explains that he feels driverless cars have “the potential to change everybody’s life.”
Jordan Graham writes for The Boston Herald about a system created by Prof. Brian Williams that allows unpiloted underwater vehicles to make decisions without human intervention. Williams explains that the system was developed so that an underwater robot would not need low-level commands, “you just give it your goals.”
Brooks Hays of UPI writes that Prof. Brian Williams has developed a new system that allows autonomous underwater vehicles to operate independently. Robots using the new system “are able to navigate underwater expanses and execute research tasks on their own. Researchers simply dictate high-level goals, and the submersible calculates the most efficient path forward."
MIT researchers have developed a new system that gives underwater robots more decision-making capabilities, reports Kelsey Atherton for Popular Science. Atherton explains that developing machines that can operate without human control could “usher in a whole new age of discovery.”
In an article for The Huffington Post about teaching kids computer programming, Joni Blecher highlights the robotic garden developed by researchers from the Department of Mechanical Engineering and CSAIL. The garden has “over 100 flowers that can be controlled via a Bluetooth-enabled device.”
Spencer Kelly of BBC News visits the MIT Distributed Robotics Lab to see how researchers have developed software that allows robots to build Ikea furniture. Kelly explains that the goal of the research is to “work towards robots that can work together collaboratively to build complex structures.”
Visiting Scholar Thomas Davenport argues in a piece for The Wall Street Journal that augmentation, in which humans and computers work together to enhance each other’s skills, would be the best way to integrate machines into the workforce. “The combination of human and computer-based capabilities leads to a better outcome than either could provide on their own,” he explains.
Prof. David Autor discusses his research showing that while automation is impacting middle-skill jobs, there has been an increase in high and low-skill jobs. While machines are entering the workplace, Autor believes that often they are serving “as tools to make humans more productive, not replace them,” explains Wall Street Journal reporter Timothy Aeppel.
Chris Neiger of BBC News reports on software being developed by Professor Brian Williams aimed at helping drivers arrive at their destinations on time. “The lab’s planning algorithms would give motorists an initial travel plan, which would adapt to externalities along the way,” writes Neiger.
Professor Daniela Rus, director of CSAIL, speaks with Timothy Aeppel of The Wall Street Journal about why robots cannot perform tasks humans regularly perform, like folding laundry. While Rus explains that it would be difficult to predict when robots will be able to match the skill set of humans, “compared to now, what we had just two years ago was nothing, so I don’t think it’s going to take that long.”
MIT researchers have developed a garden filled with origami robots, LED flowers that can bloom on command and mechanical insects, reports Nidhi Subbaraman for BetaBoston. The garden was developed in an effort to make programming more accessible to children.
Professor Erik Brynjolfsson speaks with Tom Ashbrook of WBUR’s On Point about the future of the American workforce as new technologies automate jobs traditionally performed by people. “People get a lot of value out of work beyond the paycheck,” says Brynjolfsson. “We’re looking at ways to keep people working.”
Gary Beach writes for The Wall Street Journal about Professor Erik Brynjolfsson’s predictions on how technology will change the workforce. “I wouldn’t be surprised if one-third, or more, jobs were eliminated by new technologies in the next decade,” says Brynjolfsson. “Millions of new jobs, however, will be created.”
Professor John Leonard speaks with Cory Johnson of Bloomberg Television about the potential for new developments in the field of robotics in 2015. “This year I think we’ll see some really exciting developments,” says Leonard. “I think it might take a little more than a year to see the real explosion.”