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Technically Speaking

Are the Robots Taking Over?

by Dave Trecker

wouldn’t have believed it had I not seen it with my own eyes. for robotic delivery vehicles in several Texas cities in 2025, to be
I followed by introduction in New Jersey next year. Walmart, the
A robot powered by artificial intelligence painted a canvas
inspired by 19th century Impressionism. No kidding. It wasn’t
nation’s largest grocer, is building warehouses next to existing stores
exactly a reproduction, but you couldn’t miss the similarities. The and stocking them with food items to be gathered and delivered by
brush strokes could have been Monet’s. robots. Shoppers, it is claimed, will save nearly one-third on their
This couldn’t have happened 5 years ago or even 2-3 years ago. grocery bills.
Times are clearly changing. What about people hauling? That’s coming too. After start-
A warehouse in Ft. Myers now uses independently operating and-stop development, Uber and Lyft, partnering with Alphabet,
machines to sort and fetch all kinds of things. “Robotics allows are introducing driverless taxis on a limited basis in Atlanta this
us to save time and the customers to save money,” claims the year. Wide scale usage, including car rentals, is coming – maybe by
warehouse operator. This is just the tip of the iceberg, with four 2027.
other such facilities scheduled to “go autonomous” in Florida this How about driverless trucks? They may be the low-lying fruit,
year. easy to design for routine place-to-place delivery. Load here,
Not everything is that practical. operate on a few designated highways and pick up down the road.
For example, “robot” vacuum cleaners have been around for An AI start-up called Plus recently steered a self-driving truck 170
a long time and consumers still snap them up, even as retailers miles between San Antonio and Laredo, Texas, without incident.
struggle to keep them in stock despite their hefty $1,500 price tag. Plus estimates driverless freight will save over $100,000 per truck
My wife and I don’t use them, but we’ve seen them scoot around just in labor costs.
rooms, sucking up dirt while their high-tech sensors keep them A new world? You bet. The Wall Street Journal headlined, “AI
from bumping into furniture or family dogs. Robots Are Entering the Public.” Analysts proclaimed, “A surge of
Another of questionable value is the “digit robot” that sorts investment is helping drive their public debut, and 2025 could be
laundry in response to human commands: “Pick up that purple a turning point in what they can do.” Venture capitalists plunked
t-shirt and put it in the laundry hamper.” Great fun, but not very down nearly $13 billion last year. Sectors ripe for development
practical. include entertainment and hospitality, where interactions with
Of more value are the automated kitchens that use AI driven humans can be natural and intuitive.
robots to make salads. There are over a dozen nationwide. A But the robots won’t be taking over. They have real limitations,
company called Sweetgrass has been installing them since 2021, as I learned firsthand on a visit to a Naples hospital emergency
claiming “the food is of better quality because each ingredient is room last year. I encountered a robot wandering aimlessly down
added in perfect proportion and ideal ratio.” Human sous chefs a hallway. It came up to me, spun away, confused, and nearly ran
keep the machines filled with fresh ingredients while salad bowls into a nurse. A frustrated ER doc said, “That damned thing is a
traveling along an assembly line are apportioned with lettuce, nuisance.”
tomatoes and cucumbers doled out by mechanical arms. Dr. Trecker is a chemist and retired Pfizer executive living in Naples.
Of even greater value are the autonomous cars, trucks and
taxis that have been under development for over a decade and are
just now entering the marketplace. Uber Eats announced plans

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