Decade of Robotics

HERE are two views about the story of King T Canute and the incoming tide. One version has it that he was stupid enough to think that he was such a powerful King that he could stop the tide coming in. The other version suggests that he was demonstrating to his stick-in-the-mud advisers that not even a King as powerful as himself could tum back the tide. Either version has obvious applications to a number ofBritish industrial enterprises. The simple fact is that there is no way the incoming tide of robots can be turned back. There are three options. Face it out and drown; retreat before it, that roughly equates to importing foreign made robots which means exporting employment; or make the most ofit, which entails investing in the rapidly developing robot industry and thereby creating wealth and employment at home. There is no doubt that the design and manufacturing talent is available. I only hope that the Captains of British Industry will take heed of the second version of the story ofKing Canute . .