Buzz
The idea of robots replacing human workers is no longer a distant fear of an apocalyptic future—it’s already happening. Factories are automated, delivery trucks are self-driving, and drones are filling the skies. We’re beginning to realize that some jobs may no longer be suited for humans.
But the shift doesn’t end there. It’s not only factory jobs that robots are replacing; they’re moving into all sectors, including creative and people-oriented roles. Some of the most unexpected jobs—and even social roles—are now being taken over by robots, including some you’d never think possible.
10. Buddhist Monks
A Japanese tech company, SoftBank Group Corp., has developed a robot you never realized you’d need: Pepper, the digital Buddhist monk.
Standing at 120 centimeters (3’11”), Pepper was initially used for more mundane tasks like serving sushi and assisting customers at banks. However, the company has now rebranded it as 'a more affordable alternative to human priests'—a budget-friendly virtual holy man.
For just ¥50,000, you can hire Pepper to lead the funeral of someone who may not have been wealthy enough to afford a real monk. Hiring a robot also comes with perks: Pepper doesn’t care about sects, so it can conduct services for any of the four major Buddhist traditions.
As unbelievable as it sounds, there are 10,000 Peppers in the world, proving there’s demand for such a service. While not all are leading Buddhist rituals, some offer modern options for families, like storing a loved one’s ashes in a space-efficient warehouse with a touchscreen panel to digitally view their remains.
9. Baseball Fans
The Hanwha Eagles, a South Korean baseball team, have taken an unconventional approach to attracting fans. Rather than drawing in real people, they’ve decided to fill their stadiums with robots.
After a prolonged losing streak that began with their very first game and never seemed to end, the Eagles found themselves struggling to fill seats. Few fans were willing to endure the agony of supporting the team their city had been burdened with, leading to a stadium filled with empty rows.
In response, the team deployed robots to occupy the empty seats, programmed to cheer, chant, do the wave, and replicate nearly every action a human fan would. For those who couldn’t be bothered to attend in person, they could log into the robots via the Internet and project their faces onto the machines.
It’s a quirky stunt—and an eerie look into a peculiar future. While the Hanwha Eagles players are still human, they now perform in front of a crowd of mechanical supporters programmed to cheer them on.
8. Rectal Teaching Assistant
A rectal teaching assistant isn’t exactly a job in high demand, but in the UK, there was once a man who made a living by allowing medical students to practice rectal exams on him. However, if such a person ever existed, he recently lost his job to a robot.
The robotic rear end was developed by researchers at Imperial College London. It features a lifelike anus and a silicon rectum, with robotic hands applying pressure to create an experience as close to the real thing as possible. This literal job-stealing posterior can mimic various anatomical conditions, offering a range of realistic probing scenarios. It’s also not shy about being observed.
With human volunteers, doctors can’t always see what trainees are doing during exams, relying instead on facial expressions for guidance. The robot buttocks, however, come equipped with a computer screen that allows viewers to see what’s going on inside. It even supports 3-D glasses, which the developers apparently deemed an essential feature.
7. The Human Buttocks
It turns out robotic buttocks are a hot topic in the world of robotics. It’s not only medical engineers working on them—there’s a whole team of robotics experts creating a metallic machine to replace what, as it happens, is a surprisingly significant source of income for many people: having butts.
Samsung used robot buttocks for its “Human Weight Test,” which, oddly enough, didn’t actually involve any humans. They needed a butt to sit on their phone to prove that it wouldn’t bend, a job Samsung evidently didn’t trust any human to do. So, they developed a sophisticated, cutting-edge robot butt to handle the task.
Even PornHub has ventured into the world of robotic butts, which, upon reflection, isn’t too surprising. The creators of pornography have designed the “TwerkingButt” bot, featuring what they call “CyberSkin technology,” which warms to the temperature of a real human body. The robotic behind has a remote control and even pairs with a VR headset.
6. Babies
In Japan, robots are even replacing babies. The country’s birth rates are in decline; more young adults are avoiding marriage, leaving a growing emptiness that can only be filled by the love of a child. Or, in some cases, by an adorable, pocket-sized robot. Take your pick.
The Kirobo Mini was designed to step in for the emotional bond that forms between a mother and her child. It’s made to wobble like a baby learning to walk, triggering maternal instincts. It’s even capable of recognizing its mother and responding with high-pitched, baby-like coos when she calls its name.
In essence, it’s a robotic baby—but much simpler. It doesn’t cry, it’s small enough to fit in your pocket, and when you’re done with it, you can simply switch it off and toss it in the garbage. This, apparently, is the vision the creators of Kirobo Mini have for the future of human connections.
5. Food Critics
Former Thai prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, became increasingly frustrated by the global proliferation of substandard Thai food. Fed up, she called a special cabinet meeting and emerged with one solution: the need for a robot.
The Thai government dubbed their creation the “e-Delicious,” a secret project they spent years developing. Its purpose, still a mystery to many, is to serve as a robotic food critic.
The e-Delicious is designed to scientifically assess any Thai dish. It analyzes the chemical composition of the food, compares it to the Thai government's “ideal” version, and assigns a mathematical score. According to the project leader, this is the “most affordable and efficient method” for evaluating food—despite the fact that it cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and consumed a third of the National Innovation Agency's budget.
The people of Thailand aren't as enthusiastic as Shinawatra had hoped. “I use my tongue to test if it’s delicious or not,” one confused Thai citizen remarked when the project was revealed. “I think the government should consider using a human.”
4. Sales Representatives
Getting a recorded message when calling a hotline is nothing new. Many companies use automated menus or robo-callers, but one life insurance company, Premier Health Agency, has taken it to the next level. They've created a robot to connect you with when you request a human.
The company has designed a robotic telemarketer named Samantha West, programmed to deny that she’s a robot. She uses prerecorded responses to claim she’s a real person—regardless of how many times you ask. If you point out that she’s a machine, she responds with laughter and says, “I am a real person. Maybe we have a bad connection, I’m sorry about that.”
It's not completely flawless. If you discuss anything beyond life insurance, Samantha gets flustered and confused. Nevertheless, it’s a strange leap into a future where it's becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish whether you're conversing with a human or a machine.
3. Building Robots
At times, it seems like the only role left for humans will be to create robots, but that's not the case. They've already made robots to do that as well.
In Japan, there's a factory where robots are the only workers, building other robots. These machines operate 24/7 without human oversight, constructing up to 50 new robots daily. Humans only come in once a month to check on things. Apart from that, the factory is completely robot-run.
They’ve even designed robots that design robots. Researchers at the University of Cambridge have created a robot capable of both building and improving other robots. Known as the “mom” robot, it creates small machines that race on a table, then assesses their performance. The least successful ones are destroyed, while the top performers inspire new iterations, refining what works and discarding what doesn’t.
With each new generation, the robots get faster and more efficient—all without human intervention, meaning that soon, they might not need us at all to build them.
Now all we can do is hope that computers don’t decide their happiness matters more than serving humans and decide to stop working for us. But of course, they’ll never come to that conclusion... right?
2. Novelists
Believe it or not, computers have written several original works of fiction—and one even made it onto a literary prize shortlist.
One of the first novels created by a robot was a Russian tale titled True Love, and it actually became a top-seller in Russia that year. Though, to be fair, its success was partly due to the marketing stunt of promoting the robot as the author.
The most astonishing example, however, is the Japanese novel The Day A Computer Writes A Novel. A programmer provided the computer with a plot outline, characters, and a book for inspiration, and the machine wrote an entire story. Remarkably, it was entered into a literary contest, passing the first round.
"I was taken aback," one of the judges admitted when he discovered the novel was created by a machine. "It was a well-organized story."
However, the novel’s conclusion is a bit unsettling. The robot that authored the book ended it with this chilling sentence: "The computer, prioritizing its own pursuit of happiness, ceased to work for humans."
1. Music Composers
The next chart-topping hit could very well come from a robot. At Georgia Tech, researchers have designed a robot called Shimon capable of composing and performing its own music.
Shimon is a four-armed machine that plays the marimba. It listens to music and uses it to inspire its own compositions. By employing deep neural learning algorithms, the robot analyzes musical styles, identifies their patterns, and uses this information to create new, original music.
The machine's creator, Mason Bretan, asserts that it has become more intelligent over time. Initially, it composed songs in a meticulous, note-by-note fashion, but now it can process entire musical sections at once. It can even jam with other musicians. The robot is programmed to identify what others are playing and improvise along with them.
They introduced the robot to a range of music, from Beethoven to Lady Gaga, but it seems Shimon has developed a preference for blending jazz and classical styles. Observers have noted its combination of classical harmonies with jazz melodies—suggesting that when it comes to crafting hit songs, robots may be more willing to experiment than we are.
