ChoppyEyeIt’s time for the wags and analysts to look into that galaxy not so far, far away, 2016. The folks at Gartner recently published an article that predicts how we will be partnering with and in some cases become managed by robots by 2018. This is a company we all respect, and who claims to be: “the world’s leading information technology research and advisory company.” Gartner and their ‘Magic Quadrant’ should know what is next on the tech front, right? They talk about robo-bosses, employee tracking, and digital agents handling our banking, insurance and financial lives. It all sounds plausible–if not a little dark. As tech and contet optimists, the right sides of our human brains started wondering what if the robo-craze were less about the dark forces, and more about how we can actually partner with robots.

This month, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, shows us how droid partnerships are already well entrenched in our imaginations. Since 1977 the Star Wars franchise has shown us what may be the perfect design template for human-robot relationships.

Can you imagine a galaxy without R2-D2?

He’s a hero, leader, best pal and total comic idiot on wheels. Bullet points on his LinkedIn profile would include saving the Naboo Royal Starship where every other astromech fails; destroying two super battle droids; taking stolen Death Star plans to Tatooine; and doing the ultimate under-cover act in Jabba’s Palace. (Thanks for allowing us a moment, there.)

Back to the real world and Gartner, who predicts that by 2018, 20% of business copy will be penned by machines. Wait a minute–are they talking about Content Marketing and how every self-proclaimed expert now publishes their thought leadership here, and on Medium, and on their blogs, etc.?  We just might be at the saturation point for robotic business writing. Along those lines, there is a de facto robo-editor who determines what is shown first on digital networks. The LinkedIn algorithm absolutely factors in velocity, keywords and target relevance. Which means this story will appear in the newsfeeds of  #RichardBranson and #ElonMusk and #ContentCarnivores.

OK, robo keyword stuffing in a shameless attempt to get our brand into a long tail play to trick the search engine bots and increase our rankings.

As far as robo-journalism goes, a company in the Chicago area, Narrative Science, has been auto-writing sports stories based on box office scores, and stock stories based on market data fluctuations for years. Artificial Intelligence like this and some of the IBM Watson products definitely have the wow factor. But the wow is usually in the

“I can’t believe they did this.” It’s not often that the actual articles being (literally) cranked out are actually consumable literature.

If there was a droid out there who I’d like to pen some Op Ed pieces, I’d hope for a long series of interviews between C-3PO and world leaders. It’d be great to hear what the guy who said

“Don’t you call me a mindless philosopher you overweight glob of grease!” might say about our world today.

Star Wars taps into the core of design geeks and tech nerds. The brand itself has endured. The cinematic techniques and how the designs were brought to life have changed filmmaking. The sheer inspiration of the hundreds of toys and imaginations they have touched is awesome. We all grew up playing with inanimate objects. They are called toys. Many of them had a unique aspect to them, a twist in the design or what they actually did. In fact, over the years more and more of the toys mimic the technology that now surrounds us. Having a few sidekicks that protect us, or perform complex medical procedures, or just play along might not be all bad. As in so many things, it’s the partnership and how the relationship works that really counts. The same should apply to robots and droids.

As C-3PO said,

“R2D2! You know better than to trust a strange computer!”

http://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/gartner-predicts-our-digital-future/