An ordinary day in 2035

Editorial note: The people and events in this 2035 scenario are fictional. It does not claim that the services described will exist by that date or be accessible to everyone. Current research examples and assumptions about the future are discussed separately at the end.

Morning: before leaving home

Before leaving home, Deniz calls her father. He lives independently in the same neighbourhood. Their conversation is short: they will have dinner together. A home assistance system has moved specified objects to an accessible shelf. It has left an unfamiliar item alone and posted a brief question instead.

In this scenario, the resident has helped define the robot's boundaries. It does not enter every room or record every conversation. It can be stopped when unwanted. What matters to Deniz's father is being able to manage some daily activities more comfortably without having to become interested in the technology. Having a say in when and how help arrives is part of that benefit.

Such a home life will depend on more than a robot's ability to grasp objects. Cost, breakdown support, personal space and trust must also be addressed. These requirements are conditions on which the scenario depends, rather than invisible problems assumed away.

At work: knowledge from the previous shift

The production facility where Deniz works holds a short morning meeting. Robots handling selected transport and placement tasks have reported their status from the previous shift to the team's display. One stopped when it encountered a new packaging format. The technical team does not release that version of the task again until it has been reassessed.

For the production manager in this scenario, the useful news is being able to see which task encountered a problem and under what conditions. An employee explains the packaging change; another proposes a different material-preparation sequence. The robot's work remains connected to people's knowledge of the process.

The meeting considers work allocation as well as productivity. The team reviews whose responsibilities have increased, what training is needed and how time gained will be used. Technology does not inevitably create this arrangement. In the scenario, it is a management choice the organisation has made.

Midday: an encounter in public space

At lunchtime, Deniz visits a municipal building. A guidance system helps visitors at the entrance. Anyone who prefers not to speak to a machine can reach a member of staff. A robot carrying out a defined logistics task waits in a designated area when the corridor becomes busy.

Successful public service is visible in whether visitors understand the process and complete what they came to do. An older person, a visitor speaking a different language and someone with restricted mobility share the space. The arrangement in this scenario has considered their different needs from the start.

We cannot assume every institution will work this way. Another might offer a more limited service because of cost or organisational constraints. Who can access new possibilities, and under what conditions, may become one of the future's sources of inequality.

Evening: what remains of the time?

After work, Deniz visits her father. Robots are not the subject of a long conversation at the dinner table. They talk about the weekend. Making some routine tasks easier has created space for time together. In this scenario, people have also chosen to use that space.

The same technology could be used elsewhere to fit more work into the day. Less physical strain does not always mean less time pressure. Our question about the future therefore concerns how we will live with the possibilities created, as well as what machines will do.

What exists today, and what did we assume?

Research such as Mobile ALOHA studies mobile robot behaviours learned from human demonstrations in defined tasks. Projects such as DROID make robot data collected across different environments available to researchers. These are examples of research progress; they do not establish that reliable, economical assistance is ready for every home. ^[1][2]

This scenario assumes substantial improvements in the reliability of domestic assistance, maintenance and support networks, affordability and user control. It also assumes well-organised human oversight, accessibility and training in workplaces and public services. All require institutional and social choices alongside technical work.

How many robots will we see in 2035? That is a meaningful question, but it belongs beside another: will an ordinary day with them be more understandable, more accessible and more humane? The future will be shaped by whom we include in that conversation today, and how we have it.