Preet: I agree that I would not want a robot to take over the tasks that right now are done by humans. I can see that companies would like the idea of robots, as I am sure they would provide a cost savings in labour costs...
Louise: The video that is circulating around your school division sounds so interesting. I never really thought about the idea that the types of jobs kids today will have probably don't even exist yet. Tough to teach in an elementary / junior high school setting - you almost need a crystal ball to guess what the next big thing will be (kind of like our discussion last class about backing the right technology - beta vs VHS).
Stephanie: Thanks for making us think about the robots that are already present in our workforce... Made me realize that robots are not neccessarily something new.
I definitely agree with you that for many people, the option to age at home is very attractive. There are lots of programs though that are designed to help with this. I work for one of the those programs which provides home care services. Many of our staff are immigrants from other countries. They may be doctors, or lawyers or professionals in their country, but we do not recognize their qualifications in Canada, so they are forced to find other work. If we replace these workers with robots, what do they do for employment?
Maha: I totally agree that once we start using robots for tasks we will be unlikely to do them ourselves again. For example, a couple of years ago I got a Rumba for Christmas. Rumba is a robot vacuum cleaners for those who have not heard of them. It is so nice to be able to set it before leaving in the morning and come home to a vacuumed house (well, a few vacuumed rooms at least - the battery does not last for my whole house, and my current house is not all that big...) without having to push the vacuum around myself (my least favorite job).
Liz: Interesting point about the costs associated with developing robots. All these brilliant minds works on robots, you are right - could they be working on medical research and cureing disease instead?
Theresa: You are so right that we use metaphors without even realizing them, making it so difficult for people from other cultures. These metaphors can create barriers beyond just understanding of the english language.
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