روبات ها، ژن ها و بایت: توسعه فن آوری و تغییرات اجتماعی نسبت به سال 2020

Scientific and technological policy has become a key activity in contemporary societies. In this context we present different projections about the evolution of science and technology in the area of robotics and advanced automation, which in turn shapes the new possibilities and risks emerging in this area in the future. This goes hand-in-hand with an analysis of the interaction of such trajectories with the social context from which they emanate. This interaction reinforces the need for establishing the probable sequence of technological innovation; analysing the impacts on economy and society; and providing qualified information for decision-making, both in policy and business. In this article, we present the results of the prospective research carried out in the field of robotics and advanced automation, paying special attention to the transformation trends of organizations, and the integration of robots in daily life and leisure, and underscoring potential repercussions which may deserve more attention and further research.

Scientific and technological policy has become a key activity in contemporary societies. In this context we present different projections about the evolution of science and technology in the area of robotics and advanced automation, which in turn shapes the new possibilities and risks emerging in this area in the future. This goes hand-in-hand with an analysis of the interaction of such trajectories with the social context from which they emanate. This interaction reinforces the need for establishing the probable sequence of technological innovation; analysing the impacts on economy and society; and providing qualified information for decision-making, both in policy and business. In this article, we present the results of the prospective research carried out in the field of robotics and advanced automation, paying special attention to the transformation trends of organizations, and the integration of robots in daily life and leisure, and underscoring potential repercussions which may deserve more attention and further research.

The highly probable affirmations about the future, that create a structure or system, allow us to establish the characteristic features of the future society. In the creation of scenarios, it is about searching for the convergence of evidence and highly probable events, but there is not a technological determinism that implies an unavoidable historical sequence. With regard to the probable technological evolution, the social processes of adaptation, recreation and modification of the technologies will determine the real characteristics of the future society. That is why, the planning horizon of the technological projection and its social impacts show us a sequence that offers information, and that signals social problems that we will probably have to face in a not-too-distant future. In this way, it allows us to collect critical information to be able to act again as democratic societies, and open the “possible” space when facing the consequences of what is more probable. The creation of scenarios, addresses, for this reason, one of the goals of projection in social sciences: it makes possible to show available options and their conditions and consequences [35]. From this point of view, with the information given by experts, we can build a trend scenario, which we will probably face in the future.