Robots: Friends or Foes

            As the technological world advances, a new breed of robot is being designed to collaborate with humans in car companies such as GM, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. This concept is profit making to the companies because robots are more efficient and can operate faster in comparison to humans. However, this new idea presents a huge risk to the safety of the workers in these car factories. Rodney Brooks, the CEO of Rethink Robotics, mentioned that the robots “are so scarily fast that anyone who accidentally ends up in the wrong place is as good as dead.” Until this day, “the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in Geneva, has yet to work out safety standards for collaborative robots” (The Economist, 2013).  Furthermore, many workers live in constant fear of getting replaced by robots and becoming unemployed. The discussion of business ethics arise when it comes to viewing these new robots as friends or foes. Judging from a profit making perspective, cooperating with robots is more advantageous as it can achieve better results in terms of production. But at the same time, massive use of these robots violates customs as it ignores the values of the community in terms of safety and well-being of the factory workers.

“Our Friends Electric” The Economist. Web. 11 Sep 2013