Those of you who know me, know that I’m a fan of the theory that robots are going to take all the jobs away. One job I never really thought that robots would take would be parenting. The human touch is important, and so on. But parenting isn’t just one job. One part of it, possibly the hardest part, is disciplining. What makes it tough is that many children (and some adults) enjoy seeing other people become angry. The only way to be effective as a disciplinarian is to show no emotion and be absolutely consistent. Noah has been making this clear to me, and I’ve become pretty good at the robot face. Hmm.
Okay, robots are consistent and emotionless. What about the punishment? How would they carry it out? Should robots be equipped with Star Trek style agonizers? No. Most kids in the modern world care only about one thing, getting to play computer games. Robots could completely control our access to this form of entertainment, and only enable our accounts if the children behave. Robots can take over helping children with their homework, making sure they make their beds, etc. The human parents can step in to give good night kisses and hugs. In short, we can all become grandparents.
I, for one, fully support our new robot overlords, err, parents.