機(jī)器人可能更擅于處理類似搬重設(shè)備和追蹤庫(kù)存情況等等，但并不意味著人類工作很快會(huì)被取代,。

在某些情況下,，機(jī)器人還能幫人保住飯碗。

機(jī)器人制造商Fetch Robotics的首席執(zhí)行官麥羅尼·威瑟就這么認(rèn)為,。Fetch Robotics制造的機(jī)器人會(huì)跟在倉(cāng)庫(kù)工人身后在設(shè)備周圍活動(dòng),，就像自動(dòng)移動(dòng)的存儲(chǔ)容器。本周二彭博新聞社在舊金山舉辦了一場(chǎng)科技行業(yè)會(huì)議,，威瑟和多位機(jī)器人專家共同出席,，還在會(huì)上發(fā)表了講話。

威瑟承認(rèn)“人們擔(dān)心”機(jī)器人興起可能會(huì)減少就業(yè)機(jī)會(huì),，但她認(rèn)為這種想法“有失偏頗”,。威瑟表示，如果機(jī)器人是她的公司生產(chǎn)的,，機(jī)器人還能“保住人們的工作,。”

機(jī)器人可以攜帶大量設(shè)備,，比人類工人的負(fù)重能力強(qiáng),，跟在背部和膝蓋有不便的倉(cāng)庫(kù)工人身邊，工人們就不必再圍著龐大的設(shè)備走來(lái)走去,。由于機(jī)器人可以轉(zhuǎn)移倉(cāng)庫(kù)的存貨,，工人們也不用像過(guò)去一樣在倉(cāng)庫(kù)里頻繁折返,。

威瑟說(shuō)，機(jī)器人能減少藍(lán)領(lǐng)倉(cāng)庫(kù)工人身上經(jīng)常出現(xiàn)的勞損,，緩解疲勞,，進(jìn)而延長(zhǎng)職業(yè)壽命。此外,，采用機(jī)器人維護(hù)以后,，設(shè)備的運(yùn)行效率往往更高，也會(huì)因?yàn)樯a(chǎn)力提高而降低了關(guān)停設(shè)備的概率,。她解釋說(shuō),，即使有一名工人因?yàn)闄C(jī)器人而失去工作，也好過(guò)倉(cāng)庫(kù)關(guān)門大吉,，40名工人失業(yè),。

當(dāng)然，威瑟是機(jī)器人制造公司的負(fù)責(zé)人,，不贊同機(jī)器人減少就業(yè)的觀點(diǎn)很正常,。不過(guò)，機(jī)器人技術(shù)近些年已經(jīng)非常先進(jìn),，在許多工作上都比人類表現(xiàn)好,，并且極大地改變了勞動(dòng)力的格局，所以她的看法也值得注意,。

隨著硬件成本下降,，相關(guān)技術(shù)不斷問(wèn)世，制造商和業(yè)內(nèi)企業(yè)開(kāi)發(fā)機(jī)器人的速度越來(lái)越快,。另一機(jī)器人公司Savioke的聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人泰莎·劉說(shuō),，有了3D打印技術(shù)，只用幾天就能開(kāi)發(fā)原型,，過(guò)去需要幾個(gè)月,。不過(guò)，機(jī)器人離全面普及還有些距離,。

威瑟估計(jì)，目前全球可能僅有150萬(wàn)左右機(jī)器人投入工作,。她介紹,，許多機(jī)器人公司在為“格局明確環(huán)境”開(kāi)發(fā)機(jī)器人，比如適合倉(cāng)庫(kù)之類環(huán)境簡(jiǎn)單,，機(jī)器人可以輕松辨別方向的場(chǎng)景,。在城市街道等“格局不明環(huán)境”中，機(jī)器人周圍有眾多不同的參照物,，了解周遭環(huán)境并高效運(yùn)作的難度大得多,。

谷歌之類科技巨頭正致力于研發(fā)無(wú)人駕駛汽車,，對(duì)機(jī)器人制造商可能會(huì)有所推動(dòng)，也可能掀起“更智能化”機(jī)器人的熱潮,。威瑟解釋說(shuō),，所謂“更智能化”，是指新型機(jī)器人能在復(fù)雜的環(huán)境和情況下應(yīng)付更自如,。

泰莎·劉指出,，在《杰森一家》（The Jetsons）等熱門電影和電視節(jié)目中，制造真人一樣的機(jī)器人看上去“極其容易”,。事實(shí)卻是,，造機(jī)器人“其實(shí)真的很難”，遠(yuǎn)沒(méi)有好萊塢編導(dǎo)們想象中那么簡(jiǎn)單,。劉說(shuō),，我們不過(guò)是在機(jī)器人行業(yè)革新的初期，發(fā)展過(guò)程是“緩慢的,，循序漸進(jìn)的”,。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

譯者：Pessy

審校：夏林

Robots might be getting better at performing tasks like carrying heavy equipment and tracking store inventory, but that doesn’t mean they will be replacing humans at work anytime soon.

In some cases, robots can help save jobs.

That’s the opinion of Melonee Wise, the CEO of Fetch Robotics, a company that builds robots that follow warehouse workers around facilities and act as autonomously moving storage containers. Wise spoke on Tuesday along with a panel of robotics experts at a Bloomberg technology conference in San Francisco.

Wise admitted that “people are concerned” the rise of robots could mean less jobs for humans, but she thinks that belief is a “misnomer.” In the case of her company’s warehouse robots, those devices “enable people to keep jobs longer,” she posited.

Warehouse workers with bad backs and knees don’t have to walk around huge facilities as much with robot helpers following them and carrying more supplies than what the workers can handle themselves. Because the robots carry warehouse inventory, the workers don’t need to zig-zag back and forth the warehouse as often as they would without them.

She said that the robots cut down on the wear and tear of the human body, which typically occurs for these blue-collar warehouse workers and thus prolongs their careers. Additionally, facilities that use robots tend to be more efficient and are less likely to get shut down because of their increased productivity. Even if one worker loses a job because of a robot, that’s better than 40 workers losing their jobs if a warehouse gets closed, she explained.

Of course, Wise runs a robot company, so it’s likely she disagrees with the notion that more robots mean less jobs. But her opinion is noteworthy given the perception that robots have become so advanced in recent years that they stand to outperform humans in many tasks and dramatically alter the workforce.

Cheaper hardware and emerging technologies have enabled manufacturers and companies to develop robots faster than ever. Tessa Lau, co-founder of robotics company Savioke, said 3D printing has allowed her company to develop prototypes in days as opposed to months. Still, robots are far from commonplace.

Wise said there are probably only around 1.5 millions robots that have been deployed and are active in the world. Many robotic companies are developing robots in “structured environments,” like warehouses in which the environments are more mapped out and easier for a robot to orient itself in, she said. Within “unstructured environments,” like city streets for example, it’s much harder for a robot to learn the surroundings amidst many different variables and operate efficiently.

However, the work that companies like Google GOOG -0.01% are doing on self-driving cars has the possibility to create a spill-over effect to robotic companies, and it could create a wave of “smarter” robots that can function better in environments and conditions that are less predictable, she explained.

Popular movies and television shows like The Jetsons portray human-like robots that look “deceptively easy” to create, suggested Lau. The reality is that “it is really, really hard” to make robots, much less the ones dreamed up by Hollywood executives. We are in the beginnings of a robotics revolution, Lau said, but it will be “slow and incremental.”