Robotics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology are an unstoppable force, and the robot takeover might just be real in the next two decades. So if you’re doing manual labor that could be done faster with an automated machine, the continuously-evolving technology could be somewhat of a threat to you! (Eek) As far as current studies go, it has been estimated that 75% of the traffic will be made up of driverless cars by 2040, and 47% of the existing jobs in the states are presumed to be replaced within the next 20 years. The jobs prescribed to human beings are bound to undergo a major shift, and are anticipated to lean more towards ones that require empathy and creativity such as teaching, care-taking, as well as creating all forms of art. While critics predict jobs that are currently non-existent will be established in order to keep the robot crisis from discharging human beings from the work force, a huge question mark still hovers over what jobs will actually replace the currently existent, so we’ll have to wait a bit longer for the specifics unveil. Either way, it is without a question that humans and robots will continue to coexist, and the AI existence to be more visible than they are now as bots take on a larger role in the work force.

One recent move that backs this up is the recent announcement of the second Hen na Hotel (translates to Strange Hotel) opening in Maihama, Chiba next March. Its first location was built on the grounds of Huis Ten Bosch in Sasebo, Nagasaki back in July of 2015 in hopes of providing low-cost stays with a quirky AI twist. It was no surprise that they were welcomed with much hype; after all, the reception desk is run by a velociraptor that speaks fluent English and Japanese, a frighteningly realistic-looking female receptionist bot, and a petite-sized robot (something we’re more familiar with the sight of) checking you in and telling you to have a “comfortable stay.”

Photo credits: The Guardian

This is only the beginning of the bizarre bot-heavy experience they offer, headed by Hideo Sawada, who is also the CEO of the Huis Ten Bosch theme park in which the hotel is located. Got luggage? A robot luggage clerk will take it for you, similar to that of Yotel in New York, known as one of the most high tech hotels in the world for their luggage storing bot technology.

Photo credits: The Guardian

While there are hotels in the world that adjust the room temperature by detecting the guests’ body temperature with in-room sensors or picks and plays tunes according to the number of people occupying the elevator, (spoiler: “Are you lonesome tonight” by Elvis will play if you’re riding solo) these only appear to be half as exciting to this Japanese bot kingdom. The hotel does strive to keep things entertaining (while also being maxed-out strange), which we all know is Japan’s expertise. This hotel also happens to be the first to use facial recognition for guests to access their rooms. Once you enter, you will be greeted with a lamp-sized robot named Chu-ri-chan that’ll turn your lights on and off for you whilst fulfilling tasks that you would usually have to call the front desk for.

Photo credits: The Telegraph

Since their opening, they’ve already boosted the number of robots from 82 to 182 while cutting down the staff to 10 from their initial 30, in hopes of shrinking it down to 6 people by the end of the year. Whilst the efficiency of this bot-dependent hotel is questionable, (the luggage storage pretty much functions like a coin locker, but takes way longer) it’s an invention that would’ve only been a fantasy a couple of years back and with international expansion on Sawada’s to-do-list, the Hen na Hotel is not about to go away any time soon.

While we wait for details to unfold on the opening for its second location in Chiba, you can also make your way to the Miraikan, a science museum that holds an Android space, giving visitors a bitesize of a future where we coexist with robots. Hideo Ishiguro, a robotics expert and professor at Osaka University’s Intelligent Robotics Laboratory, mentions how creating robots is a process to better understand human beings, a driving force that pushes him to fully examine human beings in an effort to transform them into robots. His supervised works have been up and alive in the Miraikan since 2014: the Telenoid, the Otonaroid and the Kodomoroid.

Telenoid (Photo credits: Pinterest)

Left: Kodomoroid, Right: Otonaroid (Photo credits: Huffington Post)

The telenoid is Skype, but tangible. It’s a communication device that can travel over to that special person you want to communicate with, with your words being communicated through the telenoid. Ishiguro believes that with the telenoid closeby, we can “imagine the friend’s face on the telenoid’s face.” The Kodomoroid, on the other hand, is restricted to reading the news and covering global issues with the capability of speaking in various languages and voices, whilst the Otonaroid acts just like a human being: she carries a regular conversation. Note that the Kodomoroid was made because Ishiguro thought it’d be interesting for a child to recite global issues — which only seems like an attempt to turn to robots for something a regular human being may not be capable of performing. Whilst the country is a leading force in the cutting edge robotics technology, Ishiguro admits it lags behind in military robotics. However with the three that provide a astonishing yet frightening experience at the Miraikan, it’s safe to say that Japan does excel in the creation of companion robots. If you haven’t heard, the Japan-made seal robot PARO has already been incorporated into care facilities in Denmark and other European countries whilst 1,300 PAROs are put to use in Japan for the positive emotions they inflict when interacting with human beings.

PARO (Photo credits: Inquisitr)

With Prime Minister Shinzo Abe scratching the surface of robots competing in the Tokyo-hosted 2020 Olympics and suggesting plans to turn it into a $20.2 billion industry, it makes us wonder whether the country is turning to robots to save the shrinking population crisis. The question remains unanswered as of now, as we leave it all to unfold in the years to follow. Robots so far — yay or nay?