Robotocene: Sociotechnical imaginaries of a robotic future

• In Event: Automation and the Transition to the Robotocene: Towards a Robotocene?

Abstract

“The robotic future” is a theme that has for a long time fascinated writers, artists and futurists alike. The sociotechnical imaginaries of the increased automation of our societies are strongly embedded in the potential – and fear – of what such futures might bring. With this paper, we introduce the term Robotocene in order to explore different manners in which the world is becoming more robotic, and what implications this may have for humanity.

We will especially focus on robotization of the healthcare sector, the agricultural sector and building industry, seeing how robots are increasingly taking over specific tasks previously conducted by humans. The imaginaries of future work will be a core topic explored, as robots are often associated with dystopias of what a jobless future could bring (some research suggests that 50% of all human jobs are threatened to disappear due to automation within the next 20 years). At the same time, robots are also imagined as providing a solution to shortcomings in the healthcare sector that will be increasingly stretched thin as populations grow older, as well as contribute in dangerous, dull and dirty tasks.

We will see robots in the context of Scandinavian welfare states, with loing traditions of involving workers in the formation of their work situation, relatively high wages and levels of automation of work tasks, and use this geolocation to explore how such a region is adopting robots.

Author

• Roger Andre Søraa, NTNU