Importance of Robots and the place of human beings

Indeed God has endowed man with knowledge, and no doubt there is almost nothing man cannot invent, make or create. I mean scientifically, man is capable of inventing, making and producing anything. What human beings are not capable of making are blood and the air we breathe. Perhaps if God has given man knowledge to make human beings, believe me, no human being will value life.
Each time I go on a voyage of scientific discoveries and inventions, I feel excited and wonder how they have come about making airplane, radio, telephone, electricity, ship, train, just to mention a few. In all these, what really dominates mind every moment of my life is ROBOT. I wonder how the idea of ROBOT came to man.

Who indeed invented the robot and what is robot? In search for the answers, I logged onto and clicked Google and the following answers were provided:

“The first digital and programmable robot was invented by George Devol in 1954 and was named the Unimate. It was sold to General Motors in 1961 where it was used to lift pieces of hot metal from die casting machines at the Inland Fisher Guide Plant in the West Trenton section of Ewing Township, New Jersey”.

Robot is simply defined as: “A real or imaginary machine that is controlled by a computer and is often made to look like a human or animal. Or “A machine that can do the work of person and that works automatically or is controlled by a computer”.

Some people think that the invention of robot is the best thing that ever happened to man. They are convinced that the invention has saved the day because robots are ideal workers who work without complaining or getting tired. Robots never reveal company secrets for any reason, and they know not corruption, dishonesty, fraud or blackmail.

The admirers of robots think that once a robot is programmed, it can do any pieces of work without precision over a long period without slowing down or getting bored or even going on break or vacation. Robots can be made to perform any task. Robots do not grumble, protest or ask for salary increment, allowance, overtime, bonus, bribe or any of the motivations that human beings usually demand for. Robots also work under conditions which human beings would not accept due to incapability or lack of conducive environment.

One good thing about the robot is that any of its damaged parts can be replaced for work to go on effectively. On the other hand, if a human being loses a vital part of the body, that part may not be replaced or can only be replaced with an artificial part which will not function like the God-given one. And in the case of the human part replaced it is understandable that it will no longer be able to work effectively like before. Unlike human being who has no replacement for a lost part of the body, for example, a loss of hand while working on the machine, robots’ body parts are replaceable.

There is no doubt that robots are useful. But as useful as the robots are, they are not more useful than the human beings that invented them. To argue otherwise is tantamount to comparing human beings with God who created them.  I strongly believe that human beings are more efficient than the robots in many ways. After all, robots depend on their inventors for repairs. Human beings are sensitive; they can think; they are flexible and can control their actions, which is not the case of the robots.
Human beings can perform more functions than robots since human beings have the ability to decide.  Robots, on the other hand, cannot on their own decide to assign works to themselves as they depend on human beings to program them to do works. If a robot is wrongly programmed, it will continue to produce the wrong result until the wrong program is corrected.

Human beings can take the initiative in many things. He can communicate or even call for assistance when need be, which the robots cannot do. Human beings can be appealed to, and he can hear and make some crucial changes. Human beings can also learn by observing and correcting what they are doing.

It is clear that even though robots are useful, they are deficient in many ways and therefore cannot have an advantage over human beings. In crisis, the robot cannot face the challenge because, it neither reacts nor reflects.

Robots are designed and programmed by human beings. How then can the created be superior to the creator? Robots are invented to assist human beings and relieve them of some of their burdens, and not to take over the place of human beings.

Aminat Adesope is one of our Staff writers. 

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