Future robotics is expected to change the way we manoeuvre through the modern world.

Drones and autonomous machines will help us perform menial tasks, and even take care of issues too dangerous or even impossible for humans to attend to.

This is one of the key areas of development – aiding and assisting humans in the workplace, in their individual lives and on a wider, global scale.

Here’s what we can look forward to in the future:

Agricultural Changes

Reducing food production costs and improving land use will be of vital importance to our future. It’s been estimated by the year 2050 that we’ll need 60% more food. The UK government has responded by investing £90m in food production development.

Projects funded by Innovate UK include a few current strides in the agritech sector. One in particular is the creation of an autonomous strawberry picker, which does the job twice as fast as humans.

This idea is expected to become the norm across the board, with drones targeting particular elements of farming, such as weed removal and general field monitoring.

Not only will this help farming, but drones and other autonomous vehicles will be able to deliver directly to consumers. The process itself will alleviate frequent vehicle use, making it greener, cheaper and easier.

There will also be less food wastage because people will be able to order exactly what they want whenever they want.

Future Energy Resources

Our methods of generating energy will take on an entirely different form, as the structures we use to generate said energy will be built and maintained remotely by robots.

Drones will monitor these structures and measure them in precise and minute detail – this information is then sent back to a team of engineers located in a control centre elsewhere. Oil and gas pipelines are already being monitored for safety, with some machines even completing internal inspections.

Drone technology is especially advantageous in this field, as they’re far better at surveying large and difficult to reach areas, some of which may be of restricted access to humans.

Not only will autonomous drones aid in the generation of energy, but they will actively seek out natural resources across the Earth and harvest energy from renewable sources. At the same time, autonomous machines can clean up waste from hard to reach places, such as our oceans, and convert dirty or pollutant-heavy water into electricity to power themselves.

While doing this, they will also be monitoring the environments they scour, compiling data related to bio-diversity and climate, which can be of significant use to us.

Humans and Machines Working Together

While these changes seem like they’ll have incredible long term effects, it’s understandable to think many people’s jobs will be replaced entirely by machines.

While some may become redundant, this won’t happen in the space of one day. Instead, it’ll be a longer, more gradual process. However, the main keyword is some – only a small percentage of jobs will be completely replaced.

During this gradual process, more career opportunities will open up, while the remaining jobs will slowly adapt and involve different processes.  

The key is in understanding how humans and AI both need other to work effectively – it’s not a one-sided situation wherein we rely wholeheartedly on AI. AI working in isolation isn’t nearly as effective as humans and AI working together.

AI doesn’t possess human imagination, personality or creative capacities, while humans don’t have the strength, precision and reliability of machines. In isolation, each side can do a relatively good job, but the outcome is far better when both work together.

Physical jobs that are effectively “replaced” by machines will be adapted – instead of carrying out the tasks on-site, they’ll be carried out remotely. This will create safer, comfortable, and more flexible working conditions for a lot of people, which then ideally creates a happier and more productive workforce in the future.

If you’re interested in learning more about Innovate UK, what they do, and their various programs, you can check out their YouTube channel here for more information.