By Sean Martin & Marco Ciappelli
During our RSA Conference USA 2020 coverage in San Francisco, we connect with keynote speakers, presenters, panelists, organizers, and the InfoSec community to keep the conversation going. This is one of those chats.
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We are human. They are robots. What will life be like when we co-exist with each other?
There are several consumer-grade “robots” that people may be familiar with: the most obvious is the automated vacuum cleaner. If one considers the success rate of this technology—consider complex building layouts and dogs that have a propensity to shed a lot—we’re not quite yet living in a perfectly-set world full of robots.
And let us be honest: what does that mean anyway?
Taking this view to the commercial world—where considerable investments in robotics and automation can drive huge returns, we begin to see how the technology “could” be used in our daily lives. The problem is, in order to have quality technology, we must get beyond the throw-away society we’ve established.
Take this a step further—or perhaps, right down the middle but with a closer approach to a human-driven technology—and we could find that we land in the world of healthcare where robots are already automating tasks that doctors and nurses don’t need to do, improving the quality of specific procedures and daily monitoring; or, can’t perform otherwise, due to environmental and physical constraints.
As we explore this world where robots meet humans—or vice versa—there are many things to consider: economics, technology, society, and ethics, among other things.
Fortunately, for this chat, we have a wide range of experience and wisdom from our guests—Sara Boddy and Jason Elrod—as we can look at the capabilities and risks these technologies bring to the table, coupled with how we will need to adapt to a world where we will share tasks—and associated responsibilities—with things that are not human.
Where do we end up in 5 years? Ten years? Beyond that?
This is not about a robot that can clean the floor; this is about moving towards a society where robotics and AI will enable us to extend our humanity beyond the limits of our current human capabilities. A full-scale deployment is not to close, but robotics and AI are among us as we type, and the big revolution may happen sooner than we are ready.
This is why we need these conversations—many of them.
Intrigued? Yeah, me too—and I was there.
Enjoy.
