A study recently conducted at MIT has found that having a robotic boss is not only more efficient than having a human manager, but also surprisingly preferred by people working alongside a robot.
The study was conducted with two humans and one robot working in three test conditions. In the first test, a human allocated tasks to another human. In the second, a robot allocated all tasks to both the humans. The third and final test included tasks distributed to a human by themselves and a robot allocating a task to itself and the other person.
The results show that the humans performed more efficiently with their robotic leaders because they “better understood them” and their choices. The project lead Matthew Gombolay said, “Instead of coming up with a plan by hand, it’s about developing tools to help create plans automatically.” The robots use algorithms that can adjust any situation instantly to develop alternate schedules when things go wrong. The study concluded with the suggestion that workers prefer robotic overlords, which give humans more time and efficiency to actually do their jobs, rather than have a human handle it.
It’s quite an interesting finding and coincidentally reinforces the recent viral video by CGP Grey, “Humans Need Not Apply.” Watch that video down below and the MIT study video recap in the player above.