A new study from Georgia Tech University has found that humans are growing increasingly attached to their robots. While I am sure that this news might not come as a surprise to George Jetson, who was undoubtedly fond of Rosie the Robot, I think it is safe to say that it probably strikes the average person as a bit odd.
Nevertheless, I would like to encourage my readers to “jump the curve” and try to envision what this finding might tell us about the future. For starters, if people are becoming emotionally attached to their robots it suggests that robots will likely become more common in homes around the world.
To this end, I believe that one of the really large untapped markets for robots resides in their ability to help senior citizens maintain a sense of independence and avoid, for at least a few years, the nursing home or having to move in with their children.
If you combine the level of freedom robots might permit its users, together with a growing emotional attachment, I can envision robots becoming a booming business. I can also see how they might help alleviate some of the pressure that it is currently being placed on the nursing home staffs. For instance, these robots can monitor a person’s health; they can clean up after them; and now, according to this study, they might even be able to keep them company and meet some of their emotional needs.
Now, it is not my contention that robots can replace humans in terms of the quality of love and caring they can give a person, but machines are better than nothing and this study suggests that they might be a whole lot more.
One final note. In my forthcoming book, Jump the Curve, I encourage people to “go back to the future” when thinking about the future. It is the idea that history can teach us a lot about the future. To this end, how many people back in 1950 would have imagined that the pet industry would be a $41 billion industry in the year 2007? Not many, nevertheless this is what has come to pass.
Moreover, how many of these people would have believed that a great many people would regularly fly their pets across the country and even pay for “pet therapy” with a psychologist? Fifty years ago both ideas would have been labeled ridiculous—and, undoubtedly, a number of people still feel this way today—but my point is that it might be just as easy today to dismiss the idea of people growing emotionally attached to robots. People are, of course, free to think whatever they want but remember there are a great many people raking in $41 billion a year on the “ridiculous” opportunity for pets. What opportunities does the robotic industry of tomorrow hold? It is worth thinking about.
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Jack Uldrich is a writer, public speaker and host of jumpthecurve.net. He is the author of seven books, including Jump the Curve and The Next Big Thing is Really Small: How Nanotechnology Will Change the Future of Your Business. He is also a frequenter speaker on future trends, innovation, change management and executive leadership.
