Cristina Andersson: Robots will free us from routine work

Net 1/2014,  2014-04-16Digitalization is swiftly transforming work and society. However, this is just the beginning. The next step is robotization. Robotization is a globally rising trend that is hardly discussed in Finland. This was one of the starting points for Cristina Andersson and Jari Kaivo-oja’s book titled Boho Business released a couple of years ago. Last November they participated in organizing the first ever robotics week in Finland. Now, a consortium named Robotics Finland is being established for businesses and organizations within this industry. In Cristina Andersson’s opinion, Finland is too fixated on just digitalization – people think it will suffice. ”Robots turn digital data into physical actions. A robot is an actor, just like a human being is”, Andersson says. ”In a world where employees are replaced by millions of robots, and where machines do the work, who will pay the taxes? The ethics of robotics draws attention to the fact that robots will be connected to the Internet and big data. All this requires legislative preparation,” Andersson says. ”The most important thing, however, is to think about the human’s role in all this. Robots present a huge opportunity for the human kind. Finally we will be doing what is most natural to the human being. All humans are creative.”