China could well be the first country in the world to have a workforce dominated by robots. This comes following the challenges China’s currently facing in regards to their manufacturing industry. Wages have doubled in the past seven years, and companies are now facing fierce competition from countries such as Germany, Japan, and the United States. Much of this is due to technological advancements such as 3D printing that has been made over the past few years, allowing more countries to become manufacturers much easier than before.
One company in China that is already embracing AI in a big way is Cambridge Industries Group. They are looking to replace 2,000 of its 3,000 employees with machines later this year. The idea is that in a few years the factory will be able to run itself with very few people needed. But, as productive as that sounds, it’s not that easy to achieve. Robots are fantastic when the work, but when they break or don’t do something correctly, they can be a nightmare to fix. They will only do their job properly if they have been programmed exactly right, which is fine for monotonous tasks that don’t vary. But, as soon as a little bit of common sense is needed, the machine is stuck.
But, despite the challenges companies are facing, many are still transforming their businesses to integrate robots into their production processes. Automation is not a choice anymore in China, but a necessity as human wages are just too high. Quite how this will affect the millions of workers in China’s factories, no one knows. Humans will still be needed to oversee robots and to work alongside them, but it’s evident that there won’t be enough jobs as there is now for people. Around 100 million people are employed in the manufacturing industry in China, and it’s because of this that we’ve had such low-cost electronics over the past few years. China is responsible for almost a quarter of all global manufacturing, including over 70 percent of all mobile phones and over 60 percent of the world’s shoes.
However, due to the massive hike in wages for human workers, manufacturing has stalled in China. Exports have begun to fall, and the whole sector is down finically for the 10th month in a row. It seems that automation is the way to go. Other countries that do less manufacturing than China have already jumped on board. There are 478 robots per 10,000 workers in South Korea, 315 in Japan, 292 in Germany, and 164 in the United States. Currently, China has just 36, but this is all set to change. The Chinese government has already included an initiative in their five-year plan that involves injecting billions of yuan into the manufacturing industry to upgrade technology all around. Their end goal is to overtake the United States, Germany, and Japan regarding advanced manufacturing technology and they are aiming to do this by the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, in 2049.
At last year’s World Robot Conference in China, although their efforts did not go unnoticed, it was evident that the country still has a way to go before they’ve caught up with the likes of the United States for example. But with companies such as Horizon Robotics emerging, who are largely into using deep learning techniques to create great AI systems, it won’t be too long before China turn things around. Kai Yu is the founder of Horizon Robotics, and he said, “China has an excellent opportunity to catch up. The skills they have learned in the last five years can be transformed to making intelligent machines.” So, with the country’s growing technological advancements and determination, it looks like once again, China will regain power in the manufacturing industry to become leaders in the world of the automaton. It just might take a little while.
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