**4.1 The Asian giant China**

*Industrial Robotics - New Paradigms*

**14**

<sup>9</sup> See [7].

**Figure 9.**

**Figure 8.**

*Potential rates of job automation by country.*

real wages). **Figure 9**<sup>9</sup>

(they may also be benefited by automation in terms of higher productivity and

Concerning the United States, a great effort has been put to integrate into the manufacturing industry the latest developments in IT, Internet, and mechanical engineering so as to reduce the risk exposure of employees to automation and get benefit by the technological achievements of the Industry 4.0. However, as Brookings Institution [27] in its report underlines the Industry 4.0, and the wider notion of advanced industries has much in common with the advanced manufacturing sector in Europe, although it includes services (e.g., software) and energy as well that led the US economy (especially services); the United States is losing ground to other countries in advanced industry competitiveness since the

at high risk of automation and the density of industrial robots per country.

*Relationship between density of industrial robots and industry-adjusted job automation rates.*

shows this negative correlation between the potential jobs

The leader among the Asian countries remains **China**. China's main ambition is to become a "strong" manufacturing nation within a decade, giving priority on *digitalization, modernization, and companies' maturity in Industry 4.0 terms*, including creativity, quality benefit, and integration of industrialization, information, and green development. Two main initiatives to achieve these goals are the *Internet Plus (IP)* and the *"Made in China"* (see [4] among others). *IP* is a plan aimed at upgrading traditional industries, searching for new technologies and spreading Internet applications into the public sector, increasing both quality and effectiveness of economic and social development. *Made in China 2025 plan* is strictly focused on five major projects among which new innovation centers, green and smart manufacturing, self-sufficiency in infrastructure, and indigenous R&D projects for high-value equipment, moving industrial companies up to the value chain. The main target of the *Made in China 2025 roadmap* is to develop a domestic innovation capacity that may be been seen as *China's equivalent to Industry 4.0*: "an effort to create a manufacturing revolution underpinned by smart technologies." Moreover, a study by Fraunhofer IAO10 about *patents registered in China* in relation to the *Industry 4.0 technologies* shows that Chinese researchers have patented important inventions in the fields of wireless sensor networks, low-cost robots, and big data, concluding that *China will be leading the pack when it comes to production data in the future*. In terms of the number of patents filed for Industry 4.0 technologies, *China has far outperformed the United States and Germany* (which is considered as a pioneer among European countries). The energy-efficient technologies intended for reliable industrial networks to robotics are basic areas in which Chinese have registered key innovations.

But the most important field of innovation in which China is considered as a pioneer among Asian countries (and worldwide) is the field of **robotics**. The number of industrial robots, using by businesses to boost their productivity, increases rapidly. According to the International Federation of Robotics or IFR (2015), the worldwide stock of robots reached in 2014 (5 years ago!) at 1.5 million units. This pace of "robotization" grows very rapidly, while the cost of new robots continues to fall and their capabilities to go up. Moreover, with the robot density in most industries to be low, the IFR anticipates that the pace of yearly robot installations will continue to grow even faster in the following years. By 2018, global sales of industrial robots were growing on average by 15% per year, and the number of units sold was around 400,000 units (see **Figures 10** and **11**) [28]. "The automation witnessed by the automotive sector and the electrical/electronics industry comes out top here with a market share of 64 percent," said IFR President Arturo Baroncelli. "A new generation of robots is a strong echo of various demands — the 'Made in China 2025' plan, US re-industrialization, Japan's rejuvenation strategy and the EU's Industrial 4.0 all symbolize the new age of equipment's transformation and a changing production mode," said Dr. Daokui Qu, CEO of SIASUN Robot & Automation. The regional breakdown reveals that 70% of the global robot sales are going to five countries: China, Japan, the United States, South Korea, and Germany. *China remains the main driver of the growth overtime and the world's biggest industrial robots market*.

<sup>10</sup> https://www.fraunhofer.de/en/press/research-news/2014/march/security-tools.html.

### **Figure 10.**

*Five countries account for 70% of the global robot sales that are strongly rising.*

### **Figure 11.** *Annual supply of industrial robots.*

Chinese industries and country's administration have recognized the need for further automation. In 2014, sales volume reached about 57,000 units, amounted to a 1/4 of the total global sales. During 2009–2014, sales of industrial robots increased by an annual average of 59%. According to IFR "The potential remains enormous despite the recent economic downturn. Chinese production industries currently have a robotic density of 36 units per 10,000 employees. By comparison, South Korea deploys 478 industrial robots per 10,000 employees, followed by Japan (315 units) and Germany (292 units). Production industries in the United States deploy just 164 industrial robots per 10,000 employees." Statistics from the International Federation of Robotics show that China's demand for industrial robots has been growing at almost 25% per year. It is estimated that the market value in China will reach the 100 billion yuan, driving to a boom in Chinese robot manufacturers.11 It is estimated that more than 1/3 of the global supply of industrial robots was installed in the Republic of China in 2018. China's rapid automation, says the IFR, represents a unique development in robotics history. As a result of this spectacular growth rate in robot sales, Asia, and **China** in particular, becomes the **largest and fastest growing robotics market in the world**. According to IFR, China including Japan, Korea, and other Asian countries is home to more than 60% of the robot stock in 2018, compared to 22% for Europe and 15% for the Americas.

**17**

*Fourth Industrial Revolution: Opportunities, Challenges, and Proposed Policies*

Previously in this chapter, it was analyzed the role of robots in labor market and in industry. The use of robots in industry may have both positive and negative consequences for human people jobs and lives. On the negative side, robots may be considered as a *threat for human labor* in the sense that the use of robots significantly reduces the labor costs and the likelihood of human error, and thus they may be preferred by international industries in order to reduce their costs, increase their output and their productivity, and improve their efficiency and their reliability in manufacturing by removing human errors. Moreover, job positions that were hard to be replaced by machines, such as customer services, are now easily replaced by artificial intelligence. It was also underlined that the greatest risk due to automation (including robots) is faced by low- and medium-skilled workers. The technological change overtime has been biased toward *replacing labor in routine tasks* that tended to decrease demand for low and middle-skilled occupations and increase the demand for high-educated workers rising in this way the inequality in advanced economies. *Rising inequality and slow productivity* may be the main economic challenges of the twenty-first century,12 and the increased use of robots may affect both of these developments. There are also studies which support that robots may lift productivity, wages, and total labor demand but mostly for benefit of higher-skilled workers. In this chapter, the **great importance of education** was emphasized. As it is clear from **Figure 12** (and **Figure 2**), the risk of automation declines significantly with the level of education. Education may help people to "protect" their jobs and finally get benefit from this technological progress. Since robots are capable of taking over a great number of tasks, humans have to exploit their comparative advantages such as their cognitive skills and their capability to think out of the box in order to manage complex situations, capabilities that may be significantly strengthened by education. On the positive side, automation may help workers to become *more efficient in their jobs* using robots as assistants/tools and entire industries and economies to become *more productive*. The productivity impact of robots is comparable to the contribution of steam engines in humanity (see [29] among others). Besides the improvement of efficiency and productivity, the use of robots in a workplace may also involve safety improvements for both employers and employees. Human workers are keeping away from dangers and risks that manual works often contain

<sup>12</sup> https://blogs.worldbank.org/jobs/economic-and-social-consequences-robotization.

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.90412*

*4.1.1 The role of robotics in society*

*Share of workers at high automatability by education.*

**Figure 12.**

<sup>11</sup> See [4].

*Fourth Industrial Revolution: Opportunities, Challenges, and Proposed Policies DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.90412*

### **Figure 12.**

*Industrial Robotics - New Paradigms*

Chinese industries and country's administration have recognized the need for further automation. In 2014, sales volume reached about 57,000 units, amounted to a 1/4 of the total global sales. During 2009–2014, sales of industrial robots increased by an annual average of 59%. According to IFR "The potential remains enormous despite the recent economic downturn. Chinese production industries currently have a robotic density of 36 units per 10,000 employees. By comparison, South Korea deploys 478 industrial robots per 10,000 employees, followed by Japan (315 units) and Germany (292 units). Production industries in the United States deploy just 164 industrial robots per 10,000 employees." Statistics from the International Federation of Robotics show that China's demand for industrial robots has been growing at almost 25% per year. It is estimated that the market value in China will reach the 100 billion yuan, driving to a boom in Chinese robot manufacturers.11 It is estimated that more than 1/3 of the global supply of industrial robots was installed in the Republic of China in 2018. China's rapid automation, says the IFR, represents a unique development in robotics history. As a result of this spectacular growth rate in robot sales, Asia, and **China** in particular, becomes the **largest and fastest growing robotics market in the world**. According to IFR, China including Japan, Korea, and other Asian countries is home to more than 60% of the robot stock in 2018, compared to 22% for Europe

*Five countries account for 70% of the global robot sales that are strongly rising.*

**16**

<sup>11</sup> See [4].

**Figure 11.**

**Figure 10.**

*Annual supply of industrial robots.*

and 15% for the Americas.

*Share of workers at high automatability by education.*

### *4.1.1 The role of robotics in society*

Previously in this chapter, it was analyzed the role of robots in labor market and in industry. The use of robots in industry may have both positive and negative consequences for human people jobs and lives. On the negative side, robots may be considered as a *threat for human labor* in the sense that the use of robots significantly reduces the labor costs and the likelihood of human error, and thus they may be preferred by international industries in order to reduce their costs, increase their output and their productivity, and improve their efficiency and their reliability in manufacturing by removing human errors. Moreover, job positions that were hard to be replaced by machines, such as customer services, are now easily replaced by artificial intelligence. It was also underlined that the greatest risk due to automation (including robots) is faced by low- and medium-skilled workers. The technological change overtime has been biased toward *replacing labor in routine tasks* that tended to decrease demand for low and middle-skilled occupations and increase the demand for high-educated workers rising in this way the inequality in advanced economies. *Rising inequality and slow productivity* may be the main economic challenges of the twenty-first century,12 and the increased use of robots may affect both of these developments. There are also studies which support that robots may lift productivity, wages, and total labor demand but mostly for benefit of higher-skilled workers. In this chapter, the **great importance of education** was emphasized. As it is clear from **Figure 12** (and **Figure 2**), the risk of automation declines significantly with the level of education. Education may help people to "protect" their jobs and finally get benefit from this technological progress. Since robots are capable of taking over a great number of tasks, humans have to exploit their comparative advantages such as their cognitive skills and their capability to think out of the box in order to manage complex situations, capabilities that may be significantly strengthened by education.

On the positive side, automation may help workers to become *more efficient in their jobs* using robots as assistants/tools and entire industries and economies to become *more productive*. The productivity impact of robots is comparable to the contribution of steam engines in humanity (see [29] among others). Besides the improvement of efficiency and productivity, the use of robots in a workplace may also involve safety improvements for both employers and employees. Human workers are keeping away from dangers and risks that manual works often contain

<sup>12</sup> https://blogs.worldbank.org/jobs/economic-and-social-consequences-robotization.

(high risk of industrial accident) and prevent employers from potentially facing expensive medical bills and lawsuits that are always more expensive than the repair bill for a robot. Moreover, in countries where men are increasingly working with robots, their adaption to automation is easier and higher (reducing in this way their unemployment risk) in comparison with other countries where adaptation to automation is slower. Besides their impact on purely industrial activities, robots may also offer important opportunities for AI in public services such as health and social care. Smart digital assistants and intelligent robots are already valuable tools in doctors' hands in order to perform complex surgical procedures saving human lives. Robotics and AI may help to transform the whole medical ecosystem, including early detection, diagnosis, decision-making, treatment, and life care (see [7] among others). In general, there are many sectors and works where robots could be useful tools in order to facilitate people's lives and help science and humanity to go one step further. The question is whether humans are prepared for the fundamental transformation brought by artificial intelligence and automation (including robots) and whether this fundamental transformation makes social and economic sense.

In the past, radical innovations have transformed the way in which humans live together; for example, cities acquire a less nomadic character with a higher population density. More recently, the invention of technologies such as the telephone and the internet revolutionized how people store and communicate information. However, these innovations did not change the fundamental aspects of human behavior such as love, friendship, cooperation, that remain remarkably consistent throughout the world. On the other hand, the artificial intelligence and the robots' invention in our everyday life may become more disruptive. Nowadays, robots start to look and act like humans, live in our houses as personal assistants, become part of our lives, and have direct interactions with people and between each other.

The "machine behavior" is a field that does not see robots only as human-made objects but as a new class of social actors. The aspects of AI machines that should concern us are those that affect the core aspects of human social life. In 1940s, when the interaction between humans and artificial intelligence starts to seem not a distant prospect, Isaac Asimov posited his famous Three Laws of Robotics, with a main goal to keep robots from hurting people. Such a rule was "a robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm." In 1985, Isaac Asimov added another law of robotics to his list: "A robot should never do anything that could harm humanity. But he struggled with how to assess such harm." "A human being is a concrete object," he wrote later. "Injury to a person can be estimated and judged. Humanity is an abstraction".

Dr. Christakis in his lab at Yale conducted some experiments in order to explore the effects of the interaction between people and robots [30]. The results were ambiguous. In some experiments, the interaction of robots with humans made people more productive and improve the way humans relate to one another, but in other experiments, the presence of robots in a social environment made people to behave less productively and less ethically. More specifically, in an experiment designed to explore how AI might affect the "tragedy of the commons," that is, "the notion that individuals' self-centered actions may collectively damage their common interests," robots converted a group of generous people into selfish persons that care only for themselves. Cooperation, trust, and generosity are key features for human social life. The fact that AI may significantly reduce people's ability to work together is extremely concerning.

There are various social effects of the use of AI in our everyday life. Many parents have noted that their children develop close relationships with AI robots and that multiple times they behave rudely to those digital assistants, that is, they give them orders in a rude way. These facts made parents to worry that this rude

**19**

*Fourth Industrial Revolution: Opportunities, Challenges, and Proposed Policies*

someone may easier fulfill his sexual fantasies with a robot.

behavior will not be limited only to robots, but it may be expanded to the way that their kids will treat people and/or that their kids will have socialization problems in the sense that they will prefer to have relationships with AI machines instead of people. Additionally, Judith Shulevitz pointed out that as digital assistants become part of our lives, people start to treat machines as confidants or even as friends and therapists. People start to feel more comfortable to talk to devices whose responses make them feel better than to people that may hurt them. So, which is the future of human relationships? As AI become part of our lives, it seems possible for human emotions to become "something" ridiculous and the deep human relationships to be transformed into "something" superficial and narcissistic. Kathleen Richardson, anthropologist at De Montfort University in the United Kingdom and director of the Campaign "Against Sex Robots," pointed out that even love and sex will be dehumanized; the users of sex robots may pass from treating robots as instruments for sexual gratification to treat other people in the same way. Of course, there is also the opposite opinion such that of David Levy who defends in his book "Love and Sex with Robots" the positive implications of "romantically attractive and sexually desirable robots." He suggests that some people will come to prefer robot mates to human ones in sex, and this must be seen as ethical and expected since robots will not be susceptible to sexually transmitted diseases or unwanted pregnancies, while

Since robots are actively involved in human workplace, it would be interesting to set under consideration, besides the economic effects, the effects that such a coexistence (human workers and robots) may have on workers' psychology [31]. Of course, the overall employee psychology is affected by the robots' presence in their workplace both positively and negatively, basically depending on how the employer chooses to incorporate robots into the business. If the majority of the job positions in a workplace become automated, employees will feel insecure, unmotivated, unappreciated, and quite unhappy for the robots' presence in their workplace. On the other hand, if the robots are incorporated into the business as assistants to the current workforce, workers will feel secure and satisfied by the robots' presence in their workplace since employees will have a precious assistant to accomplish dangerous and uninteresting tasks while they will have the chance to work on more interesting and mentally stimulating tasks becoming more productive, shifting into

more skilled positions and increasing their earning potential in the future.

The general conclusion is that robots and machines are already part of our everyday life, and this is a new reality that must be accepted by everyone. People must try to be adapted to this new reality in order to have a smooth transition from the old to the new world. The key is the way that people face this new reality. As it was underlined in this chapter, there are tasks such as teaching and nursing, for which there is a strong social preference to be provided by human employees and not by robots. However, robots are already used as personal assistants for elderly care with a very positive impact, for personal and domestic use and for many more categories that seem to be on the way. Based on the results of his experiments, Dr. Christakis underlined that "in what I call "hybrid systems"—where people and robots interact socially—the right kind of AI can improve the way humans relate to one another." Based on the findings of this chapter, a key word for a harmonic coexistence of robots and human people is "the right kind of AI" and the way that people treat those AI robots and machines. AI must not replace humans but they may help people to become better. AI must not be treated by humans as family members or as friends but as digital assistants that make their lives easier. In this way, people will get benefited by these technological achievements, the human feelings and the human relationships will be protected, and the genetically inherited capacities for love, friendship, cooperation, and teaching that helped people to live together

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.90412*

### *Fourth Industrial Revolution: Opportunities, Challenges, and Proposed Policies DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.90412*

behavior will not be limited only to robots, but it may be expanded to the way that their kids will treat people and/or that their kids will have socialization problems in the sense that they will prefer to have relationships with AI machines instead of people. Additionally, Judith Shulevitz pointed out that as digital assistants become part of our lives, people start to treat machines as confidants or even as friends and therapists. People start to feel more comfortable to talk to devices whose responses make them feel better than to people that may hurt them. So, which is the future of human relationships? As AI become part of our lives, it seems possible for human emotions to become "something" ridiculous and the deep human relationships to be transformed into "something" superficial and narcissistic. Kathleen Richardson, anthropologist at De Montfort University in the United Kingdom and director of the Campaign "Against Sex Robots," pointed out that even love and sex will be dehumanized; the users of sex robots may pass from treating robots as instruments for sexual gratification to treat other people in the same way. Of course, there is also the opposite opinion such that of David Levy who defends in his book "Love and Sex with Robots" the positive implications of "romantically attractive and sexually desirable robots." He suggests that some people will come to prefer robot mates to human ones in sex, and this must be seen as ethical and expected since robots will not be susceptible to sexually transmitted diseases or unwanted pregnancies, while someone may easier fulfill his sexual fantasies with a robot.

Since robots are actively involved in human workplace, it would be interesting to set under consideration, besides the economic effects, the effects that such a coexistence (human workers and robots) may have on workers' psychology [31]. Of course, the overall employee psychology is affected by the robots' presence in their workplace both positively and negatively, basically depending on how the employer chooses to incorporate robots into the business. If the majority of the job positions in a workplace become automated, employees will feel insecure, unmotivated, unappreciated, and quite unhappy for the robots' presence in their workplace. On the other hand, if the robots are incorporated into the business as assistants to the current workforce, workers will feel secure and satisfied by the robots' presence in their workplace since employees will have a precious assistant to accomplish dangerous and uninteresting tasks while they will have the chance to work on more interesting and mentally stimulating tasks becoming more productive, shifting into more skilled positions and increasing their earning potential in the future.

The general conclusion is that robots and machines are already part of our everyday life, and this is a new reality that must be accepted by everyone. People must try to be adapted to this new reality in order to have a smooth transition from the old to the new world. The key is the way that people face this new reality. As it was underlined in this chapter, there are tasks such as teaching and nursing, for which there is a strong social preference to be provided by human employees and not by robots. However, robots are already used as personal assistants for elderly care with a very positive impact, for personal and domestic use and for many more categories that seem to be on the way. Based on the results of his experiments, Dr. Christakis underlined that "in what I call "hybrid systems"—where people and robots interact socially—the right kind of AI can improve the way humans relate to one another." Based on the findings of this chapter, a key word for a harmonic coexistence of robots and human people is "the right kind of AI" and the way that people treat those AI robots and machines. AI must not replace humans but they may help people to become better. AI must not be treated by humans as family members or as friends but as digital assistants that make their lives easier. In this way, people will get benefited by these technological achievements, the human feelings and the human relationships will be protected, and the genetically inherited capacities for love, friendship, cooperation, and teaching that helped people to live together

*Industrial Robotics - New Paradigms*

(high risk of industrial accident) and prevent employers from potentially facing expensive medical bills and lawsuits that are always more expensive than the repair bill for a robot. Moreover, in countries where men are increasingly working with robots, their adaption to automation is easier and higher (reducing in this way their unemployment risk) in comparison with other countries where adaptation to automation is slower. Besides their impact on purely industrial activities, robots may also offer important opportunities for AI in public services such as health and social care. Smart digital assistants and intelligent robots are already valuable tools in doctors' hands in order to perform complex surgical procedures saving human lives. Robotics and AI may help to transform the whole medical ecosystem, including early detection, diagnosis, decision-making, treatment, and life care (see [7] among others). In general, there are many sectors and works where robots could be useful tools in order to facilitate people's lives and help science and humanity to go one step further. The question is whether humans are prepared for the fundamental transformation brought by artificial intelligence and automation (including robots) and whether this fundamental transformation makes social and economic sense. In the past, radical innovations have transformed the way in which humans live together; for example, cities acquire a less nomadic character with a higher population density. More recently, the invention of technologies such as the telephone and the internet revolutionized how people store and communicate information. However, these innovations did not change the fundamental aspects of human behavior such as love, friendship, cooperation, that remain remarkably consistent throughout the world. On the other hand, the artificial intelligence and the robots' invention in our everyday life may become more disruptive. Nowadays, robots start to look and act like humans, live in our houses as personal assistants, become part of

our lives, and have direct interactions with people and between each other.

can be estimated and judged. Humanity is an abstraction".

work together is extremely concerning.

The "machine behavior" is a field that does not see robots only as human-made objects but as a new class of social actors. The aspects of AI machines that should concern us are those that affect the core aspects of human social life. In 1940s, when the interaction between humans and artificial intelligence starts to seem not a distant prospect, Isaac Asimov posited his famous Three Laws of Robotics, with a main goal to keep robots from hurting people. Such a rule was "a robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm." In 1985, Isaac Asimov added another law of robotics to his list: "A robot should never do anything that could harm humanity. But he struggled with how to assess such harm." "A human being is a concrete object," he wrote later. "Injury to a person

Dr. Christakis in his lab at Yale conducted some experiments in order to explore

the effects of the interaction between people and robots [30]. The results were ambiguous. In some experiments, the interaction of robots with humans made people more productive and improve the way humans relate to one another, but in other experiments, the presence of robots in a social environment made people to behave less productively and less ethically. More specifically, in an experiment designed to explore how AI might affect the "tragedy of the commons," that is, "the notion that individuals' self-centered actions may collectively damage their common interests," robots converted a group of generous people into selfish persons that care only for themselves. Cooperation, trust, and generosity are key features for human social life. The fact that AI may significantly reduce people's ability to

There are various social effects of the use of AI in our everyday life. Many parents have noted that their children develop close relationships with AI robots and that multiple times they behave rudely to those digital assistants, that is, they give them orders in a rude way. These facts made parents to worry that this rude

**18**

peacefully and effectively across the time will not be set in danger by the AI robots and machines present in their lives.
