Future and Automation

Our Future and Automation a synopsis of the economic world in ruins as we continue to advance in technology. No really, automation obviously has its ups and downs. Losing a job or lifelong career to a robot or machine, isn’t something to Instagram home about. The topic at hand can be murky; on one side of the spectrum – it’s the worst thing ever, on the other side – all rainbows and sparkles. Resources state that we can only automate redundant processes while other resources add, our technology is advancing where automation can predict.

Our Future and Automation

Now let’s not get all crazy and confuse automation and AI. Automation is “the technique of making an apparatus, a process, or a system operate automatically.” It can also be defined as, “the creation and application of technology to monitor and control the production and delivery of products and services.” Whereas, Artificial Intelligence (AI) “is an area of computer science that emphasizes the creation of intelligent machines that work and react like humans.” With that being said, our current, our future, and our future’s future will be impacted by automation in our livelihood and careers. In a broad sense of the word, Automation is and will continue to be beneficial.

Uphill

How is Automation beneficial, you might ask. In a nutshell, humans come with “human error”, automating redundant processes, increasing production rate and productivity. It makes more efficient use of materials and better product quality, not to mention the increase in human safety. Automation compliments humans. Plus, millennials want less time in the office and quicker delivery times on gluten free, uncured, organic bacon. (In the US, we are trending downward from a 60-hour workweek to 33 hours on average.) Automation creates wealth by allowing us to do more work in less time. So, for those mountain bike enthusiasts out there, more time to enjoy life, family, and adventure. (Just quit building trails in Bella Vista. You’re making these empty nesters all upset.)

Make sure your essay is 100% unique

Our experts will write for you an essay on any topic, with any deadline and requirements from scratch

127 our experts are available
right now

Get custom essay

Downhill

Realistically, what is the cause of alarm? Automation creates wealth and … it did cause our 40% of farm employment in the 1900’s to decline to less than 2% (200 years later). We have automation anxiety (Too much Terminator)! In my research of this very contradictory and black sheep of a topic, I found several articles paraphrasing an Oxford University publication. The publication is titled, “THE FUTURE OF EMPLOYMENT: HOW SUSCEPTIBLE ARE JOBS TO COMPUTERISATION?” and basically mind blows economists by noting that “47% of jobs were under threat of automation.”

Is it a false alarm; wouldn’t society and US economy breakdown before half of our workforce was out of commission. It’s true, jobs are being eliminated by technology. Horses are out of work. Newspaper Print Setter positions are on a decline. Long-haul Truck Drivers, Taxi Drivers, Customer Service, Office Assistants, Healthcare Workers, Warehouse Workers, Assembly Line Manufacturers, Retail Sales, Writers, Soldiers, and Pilots are all impacted by technology. Driverless technology, AI can diagnose patients, Amazon is leading the way in robotics, self-checkouts and food ordering kiosks, applications like “Wordsmith”, and Drones. We have no chance at competing with Machines. Machines utilize patterns and logarithms, they can process millions in the same time a human could only process hundreds.

For the Win

No need to compete, we are the O-Rings, the magic key, we dot the i’s and cross the t’s when it comes to automation. Humans must overcome this “Lump of Labor Fallacy” that gives the idea there is only a fixed amount of work available. As one job is eliminated or becomes obsolete 5 others appear in its place, and they pay better! Continue to push our workforce into new training and technology, better ourselves and communities. When farming was on a decline, children and teens were no longer allowed to leave school before the age of 16. We’ve transitioned from Farmer, to Industrialist, to office worker and continue to invent for necessity. Thank you ice cream machine, thank you blender, thank you coffee maker, all automations.

References

1. Automation, I. S. (n.d.). What Is Automation? Retrieved December 11, 2018, from https://www.isa.org/about-isa/what-is-automation/
2. Autor, D. (2016, September). Will automation take away all our jobs? Retrieved December 11, 2018, from https://www.ted.com/talks/david_autor_why_are_there_still_so_many_jobs
3. Ford, M. (2017, April). How we’ll earn money in a future without jobs. Retrieved December 11, 2018, from https://www.ted.com/talks/martin_ford_how_we_ll_earn_money_in_a_future_without_jobs
4. Goldbloom, A. (2016, February). The jobs we’ll lose to machines — and the ones we won’t. Retrieved December 11, 2018, from https://www.ted.com/talks/anthony_goldbloom_the_jobs_we_ll_lose_to_machines_and_the_ones_we_won_t
5. Susskind, D. (2017, December). 3 myths about the future of work (and why they’re not true). Retrieved December 11, 2018, from https://www.ted.com/talks/daniel_susskind_3_myths_about_the_future_of_work_and_why_they_re_not_true#t-935510
6. T. (n.d.). What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)? – Definition from Techopedia. Retrieved December 11, 2018, from https://www.techopedia.com/definition/190/artificial-intelligence-ai