Before starting the meeting, Dr. Mutijarsa- also known as Soni- briefed the basic concepts of the cyber physical system (CPS). This system interacts between the analogue, digital and human spaces through the internet as communication. He claimed that this principle became the foundation of the 4.0 industrial revolution. An example of the CPS would be the smartphones that unknowingly become our “companions”.

Soni stated that the position of robotics has moved not only in industries, but also in our daily lives like robot services. Robotics has undergone evolution, resulting in its personalization and the rise in its autonomous system. In other words, robots nowadays possess cognitive, calculative, and interactive abilities.

“Every recent technology will cause concerns among people, but the changes that have been done are irreversible,” Soni added. These concerns are discussed further in the public lecture.

Many are worried of the decline or shift in the occupational fields due to the existence of robotics and autonomous system (RAS). According to Soni, this innovation instead changes human lives to unimaginable directions, for instance the invention of refrigerators, bicycles, and cars. No one regrets those inventions despite the shifting of job pools.

The goal of RAS is to transform the livelihoods of society into a more meaningful one. Soni displayed World Economic Forum data showing the 75 million occupations that will be replaced by RAS and the 133 million new occupations created by RAS itself. Hence, humans are never truly replaced. To compete with the changes of time, he advised to keep adapting and learn to find new opportunities and capabilities.

Besides jobs, Soni discussed other issues such as data privacy, systemic bias and failure, safety, regulation, security, and ethics. These issues are problems that require everyone’s participation to prevent unwanted scenarios. Soni believed that technology itself is a double-edged sword- there are its benefits and risks, its strengths and weaknesses. Regardless, robotics advocators view those from a humane perspective.

Reporter: Maria Khelli (TPB STEI, 2020)
Translator: Ruth Nathania (Teknik Lingkungan, 2019)