Glossary
Union- A group of people in a workplace to stand against the place.
Nostalgia- Thinking about the past.
Cynicism- A belief of self interest which is for your own desire.
Restructuring- to adapt to accomplish a goal.
Entrepreneurs- A person who is creating a business.
Prosperity- The success of the individual after an accomplishment.
Question: Will society still function if jobs are being taken away by automation?
Society and its impacts
Society will be impacted nevertheless due to less labor required when automation takes its place. Unions usually occur when inequality appears. Society may still function, but many will be impacted due to automation taking over their jobs, and as a result unemployment for many. In fact, on an article of Stephen Hawking by Rob Price, “Artificial intelligence and increasing automation is going to decimate middle class jobs, worsening inequality and risking significant political upheaval, Stephen Hawking has warned.” He is informing that automation is going to make many unemployed when automation increases. Similar to the article about unemployment by the use of automation, an article about automation by R.H Mabry and A.D Sharplin, “automation is a major factor in eliminating jobs in the United States at the rate of more than 40,000 a week.” Here, automation is wiping out jobs in the United States in a rapid way, and especially one of the classes that is impacted the most, the middle class.
Question: Why is the middle class impacted the most by automation?
The middle class
The middle class is being impacted the most because it is where most Americans who are in the workforce. In the past, not many technology has appeared, and some people may have nostalgia From the thinking about how there were not Television back then. Many people who are wealthy are entrepreneurs and prosper with their accomplishment. while the many are poor. The middle class is mostly impacted by automation. In fact, former president Barrack Obama with his farewell address from the article from Claire Cain Miller, “The next wave of economic dislocations won’t come from overseas,” Mr. Obama said. “It will come from the relentless pace of automation that makes a lot of good, middle-class jobs obsolete “ (Miller). This statement from Barack Obama informs the middle class jobs would be gone once automation takes over the economy. Here, a well known former president Barrack Obama address how middle class jobs would be out of date. Another article from Lee Drutman, author of “Will Robots Kill Democracy”, states that “This anti democratic dystopia can be averted if elected leaders preserve the middle class through some form of redistribution. But the more unequal society becomes, and the more elites have to lose from redistribution, the more aggressively they will try to block any such effort” (Drutman). If the middle class gets a redistribution of wealth for the cost of the elites’ redistribution, then the elites would try to stop that from happening. Since middle class jobs is being taken away by automation, and many are trying to find solutions for the middle class. Will there be a solution for automation, and technology?
Question: Why is technology still advancing, and the evolution of automation?
Technology and its advancement
Technology is still advancing because many inventions have a purpose to make something easier or faster, and make life better. The evolution of automation has evolved overtime to rapid produce, and manufacture objects. In fact, on an article “How Technology Helps Us In Our Daily Lives” by Amy williams, who is a journalist. She talks about how technology is changing how we live our lives in a positive way. For instance, “Busy parents are able to pay bills and bank online. You can conveniently pay the electric bill at 11:30 while watching Jimmy Fallon.” Technology changed the way how we pay our bills now. No need to leave your home to go pay when conveniently pay with your electronic devices at home if available. Technological advancement made it convenient for people, and definitely changed how they lived their lives. Similar to the article about how technology is still advancing, an article about technological advances by ScienceNetLinks “Today, people are living longer and healthier lives thanks, in large part, to technological advances in the field of medicine.” People are living longer than ever in the past because of advances in medicine, and that is definitely a good thing when you are living longer and healthier. Since there are good things about technology, what are the bad things in technology?
Question: What are the downside in technology?
The downside in technology
Some of the downside in technology would be how society is dependent in technology instead of independent. Also, automation takes over the repetitive tasks in labor which leads to unemployment in workforces. In fact, on an article “List of Pros and Cons of Technology” by Occupy Theory, it states that “owning a mobile phone means that criminals can easily invade our privacy, collecting data and using it for criminal activities.” It explains one of the flaws in technology on how our privacy is invaded due to data being collected. Similar to the article about downside in technology, an article about automation discussed the downsides in automation. In the article by Britannica, it explains the pros and cons of automation. The article refers to automation as “in almost all cases the worker whose job has been taken over by a machine undergoes a period of emotional stress.” Automation leads to job loss, and as a result many people undergo emotional stress. Since the downside of technology and automation are safety in privacy and job loss, is education a new factor? Will it make others require more education for the jobs that are available, and is not taken over by automation?
Question: Are people required to get more education since some jobs are under threat, and require more skilled workers?
Video
Education requirement
Education in general is a good thing. It generates knowledge, and the more knowledge you have, the more you know. Since many jobs are being taken away by automation which many jobs that have a repetitive tasks in their jobs would be impacted. Not all jobs will be taken away because many jobs such as a doctor can’t be replaced by machines. People are not required to get more education because it depends on the person whether or not their interests, and how much money they want to make. In fact, on an article “Advantages & Disadvantages of Learned & Unlearned Employees” by Rick Suttle. The statistics is that “Fifty percent of U.S. jobs require at least middle skills, or skills learned through education or training after high school.” This means that many jobs in the United States require more skilled workers in the workforce which leaves the minority of people who are unskilled. Similar to the article on whether or not more education is needed, an article on Skilled labor vs. Unskilled labor by Sara Mahuron, “ While the demand for unskilled labor has decreased, the labor pool has also significantly decreased. Unskilled laborers are dropping out of the job market or increasing their skill level.” The fate of unskilled labor who don’t advance their education results in the available jobs for them is decreased. The future of education directly ties with automation because more education is required when repetitive tasks are handled by machines. Thus, many are encouraged to get more education so, they will have a job to sustain themselves in the future rather than being unemployment knowing that someday in the future automation will take over many of the jobs in the market.
Work Cited:
Drutman, Lee, and Yascha Mounk. "Will Robots Kill Democracy?." National Interest 144 (2016): 18. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 2 Feb. 2017.
Miller, Claire Cain. "A Darker Theme in Obama's Farewell: Automation Can Divide Us." The New York Times. The New York Times, 12 Jan. 2017. Web. 23 Feb. 2017.
"Advantages & Disadvantages of Learned & Unlearned Employees." Advantages & Disadvantages of Learned & Unlearned Employees | Chron.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2017.
"List of Pros and Cons of Technology." OccupyTheory. N.p., 22 Jan. 2015. Web. 23 Feb. 2017.
Price, Rob. "Stephen Hawking: This will be the impact of automation and AI on jobs." N.p., 06 Dec. 2016. Web. 20 Feb. 2017.
R. H. Mabry, A. D. Sharplin, “Does More Technology Create Unemployment?”
"Technological Advances." Technological Advances - Science NetLinks. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2017.
Credits:
Created with images by Pexels - "adult blur bokeh" • Moyan_Brenn - "Japan" • jollyUK - "Money" • Matt Henry photos - "sad pug" • Wonder woman0731 - "Cat crying Web image" • FirmBee - "ipad mockup apple" • klimkin - "dog eyes view" • Pexels - "asian cuisine chef cooking"