Issues and Prospects of Robotization in the Social Field

The article presents a sociological analysis of the first trends in the robotization of the social field. It describes the emergence and the beginning of mass distribution of the so-called “service robots” which are intended for use by various social groups in daily activities for the purpose of meeting human needs. The article lists their characteristics and raises some ethical issues of the use of robotics in the social area. We also analyze a threat to life and health due to robotization using the first case of the man killed by an unmanned taxi as an example (2018). The first predictive calculations of unemployment rates in the UK, caused by the use of service robots in the future, are given. It also characterizes the social significance of the functionality of several samples of service robots invented over the past 20 years, and the most popular ones in the world. Among them are the Paro robot (Japan) in the form of a baby seal for the elderly and sick people (which is “the most healing robot” according to the Guinness Book of Records); Asimo android robots (Japan), Actroid (Japan), EveR (South Korea), Repliee (Japan), Topio (Vietnam), Aiko (Canada), HRP (Japan), Ibn Sina (United Arab Emirates, 2009), Frank (Switzerland) aimed at communicating and performing a number of useful functions for a person; and also the Kirobo Mini child robot (Japan), the Jibo “social robot for the family” (USA) and the Russian service robot Promobot, which reached the level of mass production and distribution. The experience of introducing service robots in various areas with Promobot as an example is considered in detail. On the whole, it is shown how robotization of the social field contributes to the autonomization of an individual, and changes the social processes in society.