Digital transformation is underway, but how might that look even further into the future? It’s widely understood that robots are playing an increasing role in manufacturing and warehouses. Less recognized is that robots may soon be appearing in offices near you.

The robot revolution in the office will not be about robots existing separately from the worker, like it is in the case of manufacturing; instead, robots will mostly exist side-by-side with office workers to help them become more productive employees.

Already we are seeing changes to the conventional five-day workweek, but there’s even more. Here are some ways in which robots may be integrated into the office.

• Telepresence robots will enable remote workers to be more present in the workplace, allowing employees to navigate the workplace environment and seamlessly interact with others in the office through advanced video conferencing abilities. They will also allow home office employees to “visit” branch offices, a new store or suppliers by simply logging into a telepresence robot and creating an immediate presence upon demand.
  One early use of telepresence robots was during the pandemic. These robots wheeled themselves from room to room, allowing nurses and doctors to remotely check in on patients and patients to make video calls with family.
• Another use in the office is a UV disinfection robot, which can clean air and surfaces, as well as complement HVAC and manual cleaning services.
• Librarians may soon benefit from the A*Star Autonomous Robotic Shelf Scanning robot, which locates out-of-place books and identifies missing books, saving librarians hours of tedious work. The robot can self-navigate a library during off hours and provide a morning report for librarians. This is made possible by attaching an RFID location chip to all books in the library.
• Drug compounding robots are automating the medicine distribution system in hospitals to eliminate the manual processes of a hospital pharmacist, enabling greater standardization of medicine and distribution, enhancing patient safety, and lowering the risk exposure of hospital staff to toxic substances.
• Another use of robots in the hospital is the Moxi robot from Diligent Robotics, which can be used to deliver medication and lab samples.
• Rice Robotics robots are able to deliver packages, coffee and groceries throughout the office, or be used to for office security, performing a variety of functions from interacting with visitors to tracking air quality.
• Finally, lawyers may soon be using document-reading robots, permitting lawyers and paralegals to devote more time to higher value activities.

In some instances, robots may replace office workers, but their primary benefit will be to allow employees to engage in more creative, value-added work, while simultaneously expanding job opportunities as businesses grow thanks to the productivity of these new office mates.

Please reference disclosures at: https://blog.americanportfolios.com/disclosures/