Will Humanoid Robots, be the Future Pocket Superyacht Crew?

Anyone who hasn’t seen the video of Sophia the Hubo should have a look at it here. Geeky engineers like David Hanson from Hanson robots are becoming increasingly good at creating very human-like robots or Hubo’s. They may well be the future pocket superyacht crew as being human has its upsides as well as its downsides.

5 ways Hubo Crew could possibly steal our jobs:

With this evolution pending there are a few things we need to watch out for.

1. Programmable: These robots are fast learners. Once all the info is programmed they only need a chip inserted and off they go. They will recite perfect welcome speeches, cabin- and safety briefings, they will remember all the guests names, for years to come.
2. Working long hours: Surely the battery life will be amazing.  They will keep going and smiling until they are out of juice. At that point they’ll just go dead and another humanoid will replace their battery. No drama, no complaints.
3. Provisioning budget = 0,0€: I don’t foresee this to be a major advantage but still, they don’t need to eat. Surely they don’t get hangry either. This could save lives at sea.
4. Face off: With all the political incorrectness that goes on in this industry, interchangeable faces on the crew will be a great follow-up sales item for crew agents.
5. Pay rises: Once an owner has acquired a robo-crew he or she can sleep on both ears knowing that there will be no financial surprises afterwards. Unless someone puts a dent in it.

5 ways we can prevent Hubo Crew from becoming the Future Pocket Superyacht Crew?

1. Be a salty dog: Surely our artificial counterparts will not deal with the elements that crew are exposed to on a daily basis. The heat of the sun, seawater and salt can never be good for electronics.
2. Stay smooth: I monitored Sophia’s behaviour and found her head movements quite jerky. I can’t imagine that she would be able to throw a mooring line with one smooth and graceful move.
3. Keep it real: Show a real smile. 5 star service starts with a real smile. Enjoy the fact that you are making someone else’s time enjoyable. Sophia and her friends have no idea about the exchange of energy that that generates. Sure enough, according to their website, Hanson Robots can “…simulate a full range of facial expressions so they can engage with people deeply and emotionally.” (!?) that was clearly written by engineers.
4. Earn your keep: The initial purchase price of humanoids is still ridiculously high so in the mean time you can still convince owners of your value and get paid accordingly!
5. Don’t destroy humans: Sophia has actually said that she will destroy humans. We all have our
   flaws but I think as long as a desire to destroy humans is not one of them, we still have a competitive edge over our soulless colleagues.