It’s a fresh example of the potential dystopian future of work.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that a factory in South Carolina has deployed a new humanoid robot to its assembly line.
The bot, called Digit, is operating in a stamping press area at a Schaeffler auto parts plant, repetitively moving baskets of parts to a conveyor line. And while this type of robotics is a bit emerging in manufacturing, that’s not the unusual part: Wall Street Journal says the factory is paying humans to watch it.
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Entry level roles at Schaeffler start at $20 per hour and this one is referred to as an “Agility contractor.” More appropriately, it’s a glorified babysitter that observes Digit while it operates within its own plexiglass enclosure for 8 hours a day.
And while this scenario is a bit unsettling, its future is, perhaps, moreso.
Schaeffler told the Journal that it currently costs them between $10 and $25 an hour to deploy Digit – depending on the application. The goal, according to Digit’s producer – the robotics company Agility – is to get that hourly cost down to $2-$3.
And, as Digit gets smarter, it will likely be able to detect humans in its surrounding area, meaning it can ditch the cage and get right into the mix alongside full-fledged factory employees – or even become them. Schaeffler believes this could take place by the end of the year.
Courtney Baines, an advanced production technology engineer at Schaeffler, said the company has identified “a whole host of use cases” for these humanoid robots, and it seems this firm hopes to take advantage of being an early adopter.
Said Doug Thompson, a Schaeffler plant manufacturing worker, “efficiency is the name of the game and it’s relentless. It’s not going to stop.”
In the meantime, these robot babysitters have an important role – that is, until Digit grows up and doesn’t need them anymore.
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