The editor of this compilation states that the book “focuses on the main technological trends in the field of robotics, and the impact robotics will have on different facets of social life.” Bearing this in mind, one cannot but notice a lack of cohesion, despite well-written chapters, and more importantly, limited success in addressing this focused aim.
The editor starts by laying the groundwork for premises on the impact of technology on society, its structure, and its status and actual geopolitical strength. Arguments taken from history demonstrate how technology creates a divide that has a radical effect on societies. Chapter 1 develops this concept at length, but does not yet distinguish between a technological divide and a robotic divide. The author considers the technology at large, but addresses the particular case of robotics only succinctly.
Chapter 2 considers the societal impacts of technology in general, without specific focus on robotics, and advances historical perspectives as well as the interplay of technological innovation, policies, evolution strategies, and social debate. The mutual interaction between technology and social debate is explored and interesting related facts explained, such as the flexibility of technology at the start but its rigidity when well established. The importance of predictive models is emphasized as a crucial tool from the point of view of ensuring that future impacts conform to societal ideals and concerns. This chapter considers potential impacts on three key areas--states, companies, and individuals--thus framing the debate for future chapters. One could, however, object to an obvious contrast to the uncertainty of predicting technological trajectories and debatable robotic advances in the next decades. If the latter is hard to predict, some examples prompting a future divide, besides being doubtful, are indeed almost unpredictable (for example, robotic consciousness, and human-to-cyborg evolution). However, military and aerospace advances are right on the money.
Interestingly, chapter 3 introduces a case study of very fast-changing technologies, namely internetworked information systems. Different strategic imperatives are analyzed; however, despite astute insights, the chapter is unrelated to robotics.
Chapter 4 analyzes the success of an optimal currency area from the macro-economic perspective in a monetary union. Interesting criteria are put forward based on diversification and exchange rates, after which country-wide economic disruptions are contrasted with industry-wide economic shocks. While the author briefly mentions technology as a factor of diversification, robotics is not given its due and is merely quoted in three brief statements in the chapter as an example of technology. One thus wonders what this chapter has to do with the more restrictive book title and goals.
Robotics is finally addressed in chapters 5 and 6. The former is very poorly written, but still gives a very valuable and thorough overview of the state of the art of robotics up to 2012. It also introduces the concept of “soft robotics,” which is central to human-robot interaction, and explores the technical feasibility of this function. Chapter 6 is equally thorough, presenting alternative energy solutions and describing the impact of robotics on optimal energy gathering and manufacturing processes.
Chapter 7 presents a thorough exploration of the domestic use of robotics, current home automation innovation, and future predictions, and adds important social analysis and associated predictive models. As such, it hits the target in terms of the title and goals of the book. Chapter 8 is also centered on social aspects of a technological divide and successfully covers the impact of social stratification in the context of social services robotics. While these two chapters begin to address the field of robotics proper, the following chapter unfortunately reverts to the subject of digital technologies and their effect on social inequalities. The latter is well covered sociologically, but one feels the focus has again drifted away from robotics. Chapter 10 is similar. Both chapters 9 and 10 have deep and astute sociological insights, but focus on digital services and information systems. Chapter 11 finally focuses intensely on robotics and its associated innovations, describes applications in dramatic areas such as the military and aerospace, and examines industrial efficiency. It is a gem in terms of predictive modeling; as such, it provides a fitting conclusion to the book.
Overall, the book addresses robotics and the impact of technology on the social divide, but the two are related loosely, which somehow defies the specificity of the title and stated intent of the book. Only a few chapters achieve their goal. The rest are based on the premise that: robotics is a technological category; technological advances cause social divide in various ways; and robotics is a technology category, and hence liable to cause a social divide as stated. For this reason, I believe the book should have been titled “The technological divide.” Despite this weakness, and despite the specificity having been relaxed in some chapters, I believe that readers interested in the sociology of technological growth could benefit greatly from reading it.
