At almost every stage of human development, after a new invention speeds up most menial and repetitive tasks, we look back at how primitive we used to be.
We think, “That old way of doing things was such a terrible waste of a creative, thinking, feeling human being’s time.”
In our lifetime, the end of drudgery is nearer than ever.
Manufacturing
When we look at manufacturing in the US today, we see a lot of intensely drudgerous work that humans don’t want to do unless they absolutely have to. That’s one reason why so much of it has moved overseas. However, the last couple of years have shown that the US needs a thriving manufacturing sector.
Existing technology can help us create a domestic manufacturing sector that provides a better standard of living and more meaningful work for its employees. But we haven’t yet scaled the necessary technology and infrastructure to reduce the drudgery and make this industry more hospitable to workers.
That’s why we recently invested in Corvus Robotics. Corvus builds autonomous drones for inventory reconciliation—currently a menial, drudgerous job that’s necessary for every single manufacturer and warehouse.
Corvus drones scan inventory efficiently by flying through the aisles 24 hours a day, even in a dark warehouse. And once they’re done with a flight, they land back on their docks, and the data is uploaded. This type of automation will help resurrect American manufacturing—while also freeing up humans to do more interesting jobs. The end of drudgery is near.
Agriculture
CBS recently featured Tortuga, another Spero portfolio company, because they’ve brought an end to some drudgery in agriculture.
CBS spotlighted Jeanpol Rodriguez, who used to make his living picking strawberries in a strawberry field. Now, Jeanpol manages the robots that pick strawberries, and he’s been enjoying the opportunity to do more high-level work and learn about robotics in the process.
"The robot is doing the job… I'm like—I'm cool!" he told CBS.
Healthcare
Ending drudgery was a major selling point for Baptist Health, a healthcare organization based in Florida, when they enlisted enlisted Hyro AI to automate a slew of repetitive tasks. Hyro reduces drudgery for employees as well as patients.
IT director Julian Ammons of Baptist Health said the "X-factor" that made them sign on with Hyro was "being able to point to qualitative and quantitative analytics and show that we've automated a certain volume of tasks and demonstrate the differences we're making organizationally."
We often think about how much better people’s could lives could be if there were less friction in the healthcare system. What if patients could do more from their homes, eliminating the drudgerous schlep to a clinic? Our Principal Sara Eshelman wrote a thoughtful essay about this.
Hiring
Prospective hires, like employees, have limited tolerance for drudgery. That’s one of the reasons why Guide has such a powerful value proposition as a hiring platform that provides a smooth, non-drudgerous user experience for candidates—increasing candidate engagement and satisfaction, decreasing hiring funnel drop-off, and enhancing candidates’ perception of the company. Guide is now earning lots more visibility through a new partnership with Greenhouse.
Defense
When drudgery can’t be eliminated, it can be made significantly less painful and injurious. To that end, the Air Force has been testing Roam Robotics’ exoskeletons for service members whose jobs involve loading and unloading aircraft passengers and cargo. Their work is indispensable—and extremely strenuous. They often suffer acute and chronic injuries on the job, which worsens their quality of life and sometimes ends their careers. But that changes with these exoskeletons, known to some as “Warrior Suits.”
“The biggest game changer for the Air and Space forces is less injuries to personnel,” said John Florio, the deputy director for AFRL’s Center for Rapid Innovation. “Chronic injuries are rampant all over this particular field and in other related fields too.”
We’re excited to see what else becomes possible in the near future.
Until next time,
The team at Spero Ventures