Unlike many other countries, robots a bonus for Japan

I was blown away the other day when on seeing a smart coffee making machine at a robot fair in Tokyo. High-tech robots are replacing humans in almost every sector, from car manufacturing to cooking, and from caretakers for the elderly to receptionists, in the archipelago country.

In his new book Rise of the Robot: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future, Silicon Valley entrepreneur Martin Ford forecasts a tomorrow where sophisticated and ruthless cost-effective robots would eliminate the need for that anachronistic thing "once" called "job". Controversial as it is, the book has nabbed the 2015 Financial Times and McKinsey Book of the Year Award.

Industrial robots can work 24x7 if necessary and do not require breaks. They do not eat, commit mistakes or get tired. They don't claim overtime or draw pensions after retirement. Robots can perform tasks at less cost and do work in a manner that cannot be replicated by human workers in the manufacturing industry.