Dubai: Smart machines are an emerging “super class” of technologies that perform a wide variety of work, of both the physical and the intellectual kind, an industry expert said.
Peter Sondergaard, senior vice-president and global head of research at Gartner Inc. said that smart robots will appear not just on the manufacturing floor, where they do physical work, but in the workplace and even in the home.
“Smart machines will automate decision-making. Therefore, they will not only affect jobs based on physical labour, but they will also impact jobs based on complex knowledge worker tasks,” he said.
He used the example of smart machines to highlight the disruption caused in digital business. For example, he said that school computers have been grading multiple tests for many years, and now they are grading essays, unstructured tests that require analysis.
“Not is the grading more accurate, but students actually worked harder on their essays when they are graded by a smart machine,” he said.
He said that drones are getting government approvals and licences and are a major emerging technology.