Summary/Reader Response Draft #1

Germii’s article prospects the ‘Whiz’ cleaning robot to be able to increase public cleanliness while improving workflow efficiency. Cleaners are pushed mentally and physically as they work long hours in unhygienic conditions while they struggle to meet high workload demands of employers. As a result, studies have shown that cleaners develop poor musculoskeletal health due to extensive amounts of workload with insufficient/proper rest times (Woods & Buckle, 2005). It is not only inhumane, but also impractical to overload cleaners with such working conditions. Therefore, this has led to an increase in demand for highly intelligent, efficient, cost-effective cleaning robots (Das et al., 2019). Repetitive, laborious manual tasks are now taken over by cleaning robots, while cleaners are sent for courses, where they learn to operate such technology productively (GERMii, 2021).

Implementing the usage of autonomous cleaning robots in industries such as healthcare and tourism where efficiency and cleanliness levels are highly valued, is advantageous. In a hotel context, cleaning robots take on simple, time-consuming cleaning tasks such as vacuuming carpets at midnight while hotel staff rest (Osawa et al., 2017). On the other hand, the staff take on more complex and deterministic tasks such as personalizing guests’ rooms before check-in or welcoming guests which robots are unable to perform (Hoang & Tran, 2022). Thus, it is crucial that hotel staff are well-educated to be able to fully utilize the service robots. This allows for simultaneous work together, increasing the turnover rate of rooms while ensuring high levels of cleanliness.

Meanwhile, highly-intelligent robots are able to serve as both cleaning and service robots in the healthcare sector. Research and development of AI-driven robots has been catalyzed by the COVID-19 pandemic (Holland et al., 2021). With built-in AI systems, Whiz robots memorize specific cleaning routes while avoiding obstructions and human traffic (Zhao et al., 2021). In light of the highly transmissible pandemic, there has been an increased usage of such smart robots, since they help to reduce interaction between patient and staff, collecting and delivering supplies while nurses attend to more urgent tasks such as attending to patients (Kyrarini et al., 2021). Furthermore, Whiz robots are able to not only disinfect high contact surfaces but also keep the air clean with UV-C sterilization technology as mentioned earlier (Zhao et al., 2021). With UV-C sterilization technology, Whiz is not only able to kill viruses and germs on floors, but also able to eliminate harmful airborne pathogens with HEPA filters and UVC light (Softbank Robotics, n.d.). Such technological advancements have kept us safe, especially in view of the COVID-19 pandemic in recent years (AP.,2020). This not only prevents bacteria and viruses from being transmitted, but also creates a favorable environment to nurse patients in. With collaborative effort between healthcare workers and robots, this prevents frontline workers from being overworked by making full use of our means.

With the above-mentioned advantages that autonomous robots offer, ultimately, there is still the need for human involvement when operating the robots. Jobs that require human-social connection such as attending to hotel guests or patients will be irreplaceable by machines as they lack social skills and empathy. Hence, it is dependent on our creativity and competency to operate the robots to our advantage to be able to work efficiently. This in return creates job opportunities as we learn to discover ways to operate machines productively. However, there is still the need for thorough scrutiny operating such machinery. It is crucial that guidelines and precautions are set when using cleaning robots. Excessive cleaning and poor regulation of cleaning chemicals used may cause respiratory disease and irritation due to prolonged exposure to the chemicals (GERMii, 2021). While there is still the need for human oversight, autonomous robots have led to increased levels of efficiency and overall cleanliness in various industries such as tourism and healthcare.    

Reference List

AP. (2020, May 1). Asia today: Japan debuts robots at hotels for virus patients. AP NEWS.         https://apnews.com/article/7cf5ce8bf515d9997d1382cfa8b9fe78

Das, N. R., Daga, R., Avte, S., & Mhatre, K. (2019). Robotic Automated Floor Cleaner. International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET), 06(03). https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/technologies9010008

GERMii. (2021, June 1). How tech can ease the cleaning industry's Manpower Crunch. GovInsider https://govinsider.asia/future-of-work/how-tech-can-ease-the-cleaning-industrys-manpower-crunch-robots-germii/

Hoang, C., & Tran, H.-A. (2022). Robot cleaners in tourism venues: The importance of robot-environment fit on consumer evaluation of venue cleanliness. Tourism Management, 93, 104611.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2022.104611

Holland, J., Kingston, L., McCarthy, C., Armstrong, E., O’Dwyer, P., Merz, F., & McConnell, M. (2021). Service robots in the healthcare sector. Robotics, 10(1), 47.         https://doi.org/10.3390/robotics10010047

Kyrarini, M., Lygerakis, F., Rajavenkatanarayanan, A., Sevastopoulos, C., Nambiappan, H. R., Chaitanya, K. K., Babu, A. R., Mathew, J., & Makedon, F. (2021). A survey of robots in Healthcare. Technologies, 9(1), 8.         https://doi.org/10.3390/technologies9010008

Osawa, H., Ema, A., Hattori, H., Akiya, N., Kanzaki, N., Kubo, A., Koyama, T., & Ichise, R. (2017, November 14). Analysis of Robot Hotel: Reconstruction of works with Robots. IEEE Xplore.                            https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8172305/authors#authors

Softtbank Robotics. (n.d.). Softbank Robotics Singapore and GERMII launch a disinfection solution to sanitise surfaces. SoftBank.          https://apac.softbankrobotics.com/apac/press-release/softbank-robotics-singapore-and-germii-launch-a-disinfection-solution-to-sanitise-surfaces/

Woods, V., & Buckle, P. (2005). Musculoskeletal ill health amongst cleaners and recommendations for work organisational change.         https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ergon.2005.08.001

Zhao, Z., Ma, Y., Mushtaq, A., Rajper, A. M., Shehab, M., Heybourne, A., Song, W., Ren, H., & Tse, Z. T. (2021). Applications of robotics, artificial intelligence, and digital technologies during COVID-19: A Review. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, 16(4), 1634–1644.         https://doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2021.9