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From “Singularity” to Inequality: Perspectives on the Emerging Robotics Divide

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Abstract

In this chapter, we present the results of a prospective research study we have conducted over the last 10 years on development trends in the field of industrial and service robotics. Applying the scientific methods of prospective research and future studies, we have conducted Delphi studies to predict the main trends of development of robotics technology in key sectors. Our findings show that increasingly more areas of the industrial and service sectors will be automated. Using the data obtained, we develop a trend scenario that points to the emergence of a robotics divide in a context of increased hybridization between humans and machines; a divide which will redefine the meaning of power between individuals, groups, and countries in the twenty-first century.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    To do so, we conducted four consecutive Delphi studies with experts in information and communication technologies, robotics and genetic engineering, and biotechnology in 1996, 2002, 2005, and 2010. Fifty experts were selected from each of the three research lines to participate in the four waves; hence, we interviewed a total of 600 experts using the Delphi method. In each of the four waves, we conducted a preliminary study and administered a pilot questionnaire and a final questionnaire in two rounds. Some of the results obtained in the area of robotics, which was coordinated by Professor Antonio López Peláez, have been referenced in the OECD Future Studies database and published in leading journals in the field of technological forecasting, among them Technological Forecasting and Social Change (Lopez Peláez and Kyriakou 2008), Social Epistemology (López Peláez and Díaz Martínez 2007), The IPTS Report (López Peláez and Krux 2000, 2002, 2003), and Robotics (López 2000).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social Work, Faculty of Law, National Distance Education University (UNED), C/Obispo Trejo 2, 28040, Madrid, Spain

    Antonio López Peláez & Sagrario Segado Sánchez-Cabezudo

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  1. Antonio López Peláez
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  2. Sagrario Segado Sánchez-Cabezudo
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Correspondence to Antonio López Peláez .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Educación a Distancia (UNED), Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED), Madrid, Spain

    Antonio López Peláez

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López Peláez, A., Segado Sánchez-Cabezudo, S. (2014). From “Singularity” to Inequality: Perspectives on the Emerging Robotics Divide. In: López Peláez, A. (eds) The Robotics Divide. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-5358-0_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-5358-0_11

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