Robots are better at everything. Apparently, as they are taking jobs away. Hence, they are better drivers, they register our groceries in the supermarket, and they collect and analyse our data (Thomas, 2020). Radiologists are made redundant, so are document review lawyers, as well as cashiers. Soon we will be left with employees with zero economic value (Autor, 2015). Watson will educate our children, while Google will drive us around, and we will soon be redundant as robots will live our lives for us (Colvin, 2014). These statements probably sound familiar.
Before analysing the need and work of robots and their take-over, we should differentiate between automation and augmentation and define each term. Based on Merriam-Webster, automation is the “automatically controlled operation of an apparatus, process, or system by mechanical or electronic devices that take the place of human labor.” The same source defines augmenting as the act “to make greater, more numerous, larger, or more intense.” Thus, one act replaces the human, and
