0 is being driven by the same technological advances that enable the capabilities of the smartphones in our pockets.
 It is a mix of low-cost and high-power computers, high-speed communication and artificial intelligence.
 This will produce smarter robots with better sensing and communication abilities that can adapt to different tasks, and even coordinate their work to meet demand without the input of humans.
--
 While these machines are getting smarter, they are still not as smart as us.
 Today’s industrial artificial intelligence operates at a narrow level, which gives the appearance of human intelligence exhibited by machines, but designed by humans.
 What’s coming next is known as “deep learning”.
--
 A perfect example of deep learning was demonstrated by Google’s AlphaGo software, which taught itself to beat the world’s greatest Go players.
 The turning point in applying artificial intelligence to manufacturing could come with the application of special microchips called graphical processing units (GPUs).
 These enable deep learning to be applied to extremely large data sets at extremely fast speeds.
--
0 will allow humans to focus on business, creativity and science, which it would be harder for any robot to do (Rethink Robotics) Exactly what impact a smarter robotic workforce with the potential to operate on its own will have on the manufacturing industry, is still widely disputed.
 Artificial intelligence, as we know it from science fiction, is still in its infancy.
 It could well be the 22nd century before robots really have the potential to make human labour obsolete by developing not just deep learning, but true artificial understanding that mimics human thinking.