Dalian is hosting the 9th Summer World Economic Forum: 'New Champions' Meeting this week, Sept. 9-11. More than 1,700 high-ranking government and business officials from 90 countries attend; as organizers disclosed the key topic would be technology and its global economic impact.

Recent groundbreaking advances in science and technology have transformed the world as we know it; with such developments charting a new course for economic growth worldwide. Seminars on robotics would play starring roles.

Robotics inventors, innovators and experts are touting the new wave of robots they believe will dramatically alter the global economic landscape. With each passing day, robots are getting stronger, smarter with more capabilities to perform the same tasks as human beings.

Developers are creating robots that can do household chores, including tasks regularly performed in factories and warehouses.

Showcasing ‘Robots Without Borders’ 

In a Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh press release, the campus announced it would send the largest delegation of any university to the WEF in Dalian. 15 CMU faculty members, students and staff would give presentations highlighting either robots or Big Data.

"Carnegie Mellon is always on the cutting edge of technology innovation, particularly technologies that collaborate with people to address the most pressing challenges of our times," said Justine Cassell, CMU’s associate vice provost of Technology, Strategy and Impact.

She added, "the World Economic Forum meetings are natural venues in which to share our ideas and to demonstrate our technologies."

Cassell, a member of WEF's Global Agenda Council on AI (Artificial Intelligence) and Robotics, plans to act as curator for the ‘Meet the Robots’ exhibit and lead a panel discussion, ‘Robots Without Borders’ that examine the potential implications of robots and how to maximize their benefits.

New Robotics era for China 

CMU robotics researchers have worked closely with Chinese scientists to develop more-advanced AI robots, which include linking different robots with cloud computing for greater efficiency, in which remote sensors are networked to share information, according to Xinhua.

A joint team of researchers from CMU and the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in Hefei have been testing robots with very different specifications to communicate with each other and to work together.

The "made in Hefei" robot – KeJia – can understand human language and has reasoning abilities, while a Pittsburgh-based robot – Cobot – is capable of analyzing large and complex sets of data.

"Robots based on varied hardware and software have different capabilities and skills," said Chen Xiaoping, Robotics professor at USTC in Hefei.

Meet your hardworking robot 

Robotics developers recognize the value of robots that look and act like human beings. And with such amazing advancements in the field of AI, sooner or later humanoids can become your friend and helper at the job site, especially in China.

China had overtaken Japan as the world's biggest market for industrial robots in 2013, according to the International Federation of Robots. Meanwhile, Chinese Robotics firms – Siasun Robot and Automation Co. and Shenzhen Innovance Technology Co. – are specializing in the hi-tech design of industrial robots for manufacturers.

Additionally, Business Mirror reports that Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. has entered a joint venture with SoftBank Corp.. to sell the Japanese company’s humanoid robot, Pepper, which can perform routine housekeeping duties.

Robots as up-and-coming trend 

With so many government officials and business leaders in attendance at the 9th Summer World Economic Forum in Dalian, the public-at-large can anticipate to hear about new trends that will converge on tomorrow’s economy.

Since robots would take center stage at the three-day event, that's a strong signal for robotics to play more crucial roles for the overall economy in the very near future. (CCTV News)