Need a baby sitter? Buy a robot.

TOKYO (Reuters) -
Toyota Motor Corp. (7203.T) aims to start selling robots that can help look after elderly people or serve tea to guests by 2010, the Asahi daily reported on Tuesday.

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I can't wait to have a robot that can do heavy lifting, yard work, take out the trash type of activities.

I can envision robots along with wirless technology doing alot of labor intensive jobs that humans are doing now such as stocking shelves at night, unloading trucks etc....

Hmm Interesting article, BUT it seems like a PR piece as it seems the company is a Public Company. Could be a Pump and Dump scheme.

But one thing I do agree with is their 5 year timeframe as the technology seems to be developing along an exponential trendline. I personally can't wait either but one thing is certain, this tech is going to be the most disruptive force since the word Automation became a Deragatory term to Unions. This technology could cause an Pan-Industrial depression the likes of which we have never seen. Hopefully Cybernetics will mitigate that trend somewhat as I don't see AI developing as fast as Robotics.

[edit on 31-5-2005 by sardion2000]

We have already seen the use of robotics in the auto industry. Look at how much of a car is built using robotics. I do not remember the exact statistics but ford uses somewere around 1/5 the labor to produce more vehicles than it did during the 70's.

You are right though in that automation will displace more jobs than any previous outsourcing to cheaper labor countries has in the past. If this happens slowly then I believe the work force will change at an equal pace making a farily smooth transition to the new types of jobs (robot repair). If the transition is fast then the bets are off.

Hmm...I foresee many modern problems with robots...simply glitches that would make them obsolete soon after release.

Originally posted by Omniscient
Hmm...I foresee many modern problems with robots...simply glitches that would make them obsolete soon after release.

Can you please elaborate? I don't see robotics every going obsolete...unless you are talking about the initial release.

Hmm Interesting article, BUT it seems like a PR piece as it seems the company is a Public Company. Could be a Pump and Dump scheme.

Umm I sincerely doubt that Toyota Motor Corporation would take part in a petty "pump and dump" scheme. This isn't Boiler Room or the Soprano's.

With the way robots are advancing, especially in Japan, I can easily see some, if not all, of these goals being achieved by 2010.

Hopefully a robot that will listen to my wife blab on about her day is just around the corner!

Yes, I meant the initial release. I can just see many glitches, robot 'accidents', and robots hurting more than helping...breaking things, etc.

Rasputin you'd be surprised just how low some of these companies are willing to go to create a profitable blip in their stock price with overhyped press releases. Granted Toyota does have some awesome technology, but releasing such information 5 years before the fact seems a bit premature and suspect to me, but then again I'm just a Jaded Investor so I'm prolly biased in the way that I'll believe it when I see it. For all I know Sony could beat them to the punch(and Probably will)

Anyway, they would never take off.

Out of all the parents in the world how many do you actually think would leave their young children home alone with a robot?

If the babysitter is a robot how are you supposed to sleep with it when your wife is out of town????

I am sure that you can buy all sort of attachments. Maybe you can program it so it won't talk or want half of your assets.