By The Editor
For thousands of years human beings had tried to find ways and means to make work comfortably easier in order to feed themselves and their families. Soon tools and equipment were devised and developed which gradually motivated them to improve further and after many stages automation replaced manual labour. Finally humans were able to take advantage of machines and machineries who operated and controlled them for better production and at lesser time thus earning good profit. After many centuries came the Industrial Revolution in the middle of the 18th century, which totally changed concept and practice of working system. Then came the computers that can perform the work more effectively in much lesser time and at the same time do not depend much on number of workers which eventually was responsible for laying-off of many workers. Consequently there were more competitions for few jobs available. Nevertheless people did not give up easily and so using talents and staffs that they possessed started different ventures and so became successful in the end. Ultimately, people have to adjust according to time and adapt to advancement of technology.
Robotic-assisted surgery (RAS) is the latest medical technology which enables surgeons in performing complex surgeries. The new robotic surgery training centre at AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) New Delhi will provide knowledge, skills and expertise in much-needed robotic surgery to hundreds of surgeons who can deliver better outcomes to patients by increasing access to high-quality medical care and reducing costs. It is the first such centre in the country which uses RAS system and was first introduced in India in September 2021. Use of surgical robots has proved beneficial to surgeons and patients which is significant in this millennium. Shorter hospital stays for patients and so reducing expenditure will be great boon to patients. According to Dr. Mahendra Bhandari, CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of Vattikuti Foundation the Foundation has trained more than 500 super specialist surgeons from all specialties to become accomplished robotic surgeons in last decade in India. Under the RAS system there are also fewer complications, smaller scars, and faster return to normal activities.
Though RAS is a boon to medical science yet people in general are very much worried about artificial intelligence (AI) because it is a big threat to millions of job-seekers since automation and robots/ humanoids will be much more efficient and capable of replacing humans. According to Arvind Krishna, CEO of IBM (International Business Machines) about 30 per cent of jobs will be replaced by AI and automation over five-year period implying that out of 26,000 workers employed by the tech giant nearly 7,800 will replaced by AI in coming years. However, IBM will first stop recruiting new employees so that the effect will not be much felt. Government and private establishments and banks including media houses are studying the feasibility of relying on AI in order to reduce workforce and expenses.