Rooster Digest: Sneaky Little Robots

Stories of Grit and Gratitude for Building Local Economies

Robots make me smile. Maybe it’s the fact that I grew up with The Jetsons as part of my Saturday morning cartoon lineup. I envied the idea of having my own robotic housekeeper like Rosie to help me with my chores. Decades later, the far-fetched notion of robotic helpers is now a reality. These robots are sneaking up on me everywhere.

On a recent road trip for work, a pit stop at QuikTrip presented a chance encounter with the store’s robotic floor cleaner. I turned down the snack food aisle on the way to the restroom only to find a robot half my size sweeping the floor, announcing her task to anyone within earshot. I assume the many retail robot employees are programmed to explain their task so as not to alarm the unsuspecting customers. I found it most entertaining, reminding me of a futuristic world that only a 1960’s animated sitcom could conjure up, and here it was in real life, right in front of me.

This wasn’t the first time a robot snuck up on me. It happened at the Billings-Logan International airport about a year ago. I found a seat at the bar, perused the menu and ordered my cheeseburger and fries with the bartender just as I have done many times before. Only this time, my meal arrived by a very jolly robotic server that delivered my tray of food straight to me. Before I even saw her, I heard her. She announced her presence with a lively little jingle that could be heard well above any ambient restaurant noise. She made me smile, and later I learned her name is Rosy. I have since deleted my video of the whistling robotic server, but feel free to check out SkyDine’s website to see why this South Dakota based company created this unique solution to enhance the customer experience and free up wait staff from the rote tasks of food delivery during some of the airport’s busiest times of day.

As economic developers, we get asked a lot about the impact of automation, robots and AI on the future workforce. Are we losing jobs to these automated assistants? Are these plug and play models able to achieve the exact same work product as its human counterpart? I hadn’t really thought about it in the context of my own job until just last week when I met Edee!

Edee is Cleveland County (Oklahoma) Economic Development Coalition’s newest member of the team. She’s aptly named Edee, short for economic developer, and she made a debut appearance to the current Leadership Norman cohort immediately following my brief presentation on the Oklahoma Department of Commerce and our economic development efforts throughout the state. Her handler walked behind her into the room and explained that she is still in training. She greeted us with hand gestures, but she was not quite ready to give a presentation. However, once fully trained on the competitive advantages of Cleveland County, she, too, will be able to deliver a well-rehearsed speech on why you should choose Cleveland County, OK for business.

I smiled. I thought, how clever is that to have technology help tell the story of how your community is ready and able to support high tech industry. It certainly builds an image of the community as one that is forward-thinking, creative and tech-focused. I’ll be back when Edee is ready to talk! I may have a few things to learn from her to help refine my own spiel.