Automation and its Effect on Society Research Paper

Abstract

The Tech world is facing a revolutionary phase. As time passes, we are being introduced to new inventions that are very beneficial for humans as they easied our work. Many inventions have made our work easier while many inventions had eliminated jobs from our society. But still, if we compare the pros and cons of automation we will find out that its pros are much more than its cons. Although automation had eliminated many types of jobs it has also created millions of jobs. Only the invention of the computer has created around 18.5 million jobs around the world. Automation has created a positive impact on our society as it helps us increase our GDP. It doesn’t affect net job loss in society as if it has created job loss in any part of the economy if has also created millions of jobs in the other sector/ industry of the economy.

Introduction

People have always seen a charm in the things that make their life more easy and more automated. As time passes, technological developments are making life more easier. There is a possibility that some people might feel regret about these changes because they don’t want their life to be disturbed by technological changes and they want to do their work by themselves, but the fact is that most people are feeling relieved and relaxed due to the easiness that automation has provided. In some scenarios, automation has helped to improve the quality of life of people who have disabilities (Bereiter, 1993).

As the technological world is facing a revolutionary phase, Automation has made a great impact on scientific investigation, communication, and production. How it is interconnected with some different parts of technology and how technology is related to our society? These are the questions that will be taken under consideration while writing this report.

Humans are lagging far behind artificial intelligence in the jobs of marketing and sales. Sales calls can be easily analyzed through artificial intelligence. This can be done more fastly and more easily than humans through artificial intelligence. Nowadays, different organizations are using artificial intelligence for the maintainance of playbooks of email marketing and also for the development of content strategies used in marketing. Although, only 3.8% of jobs have been automated till now, but there are a lot of jobs that can be easily automated (Stuart, 2017). Technological advancements are happening continuously that will provide many jobs to the robots thus creating a situation of unemployment for humans.

Discussion

Advancements in technology in the past two decades have made robots, software, and computers so sophisticated that machines are now entering in the arena that was once thought to be the exclusive territory of humans i.e., cognition. Today the computer has been made so sensitive that it can generate insights and recognize patterns used for the detection of fraud, legal research, auditing, medical diagnostics, and many others (Griffiths et. al, 2005). Algorithms of artificial intelligence act much faster than humans and can process thousands of documents and they are free from any type of human bias.

There is no doubt that automation will increase the living standard of people but despite its positive facts it will also take the place of humans and many jobs that are currently being done by the humans will be replaced by the robots. There is a substantial confusion about the connection between technology, automation, and jobs. Here are some points that are essential to understanding this interaction (Hoff et. al., 2015).

1. Automation that is driven through technology is the key to increasing the standards of our lives. This could only be done if we are using modern tools which could only be produced by using the latest technology. Better tools will help us to produce more. If we produce more, our workers will get extra pay and the companies will decrease the price of the products and thus all these reasons together increase the living standards.
2. Technology can affect our productivity in two different ways. The first is when workers are replaced by technology while the second is when there is an increase in workers’ productivity due to change in technology.
3. The impact of automation on employment differs from industry to industry. Automation leads organizations to lower their costs. The industries were lowering the price of the product does not increases the demand, automation enables fewer workers to give the same output. Whereas the industries were lowering the price of the product causes an increase in demand, automation enables the same workers to generate more number of products.
4. Automation does not cause the same effects on all occupations. Some occupations have seen a serious decline in employment because technological changes have taken the place of employees. Whereas some occupations have created a lot of jobs due to the change in technology.
5. Net job gain cannot be achieved through automation (Parasuraman, 2007). Few jobs will be generated for making new machines and tools but their use will always cause a decline in the jobs. No one is going to invest in automation if the saving is less than the net present value.
6. Net job loss cannot be achieved through automation (Parasuraman, 2007). Although automation reduces jobs in some of the industries, it does not affect the overall economy. The main reason behind this is, that no organization is going for automation unless it finds saving in it. If they find saving, ultimately consumers will get the benefit of that and will use those savings in the future to buy something else. This process will create jobs in other sections of the economy.
7. Some people say that if we should only automate the 3D: dangerous, dirty, and dumb jobs. But the net prosperity always increases with the automation of good jobs. Automation of good jobs will ultimately increase the GDP; as the genuine output is still there, but the workers in the society have been redeployed for the generation of new goods so that the society as a whole can acquire the benefits.
8. The rate of remunerating job creation will not surpass the rate of automation. Although there is proof that the current rate of technological development or the expected rate is high as compared to the historical rate but still there is a common observation that the technological changes are increasing too fast. Even if the rate of automation increases, we cannot say that there will be no simulatanious job creation. As automation will cause elimination in the jobs of one industry but it will not effect the economy as a whole.
9. Today, productivity is benefitting all the workers just like it did in the past. It is not true that with the increase in productivity, workers are getting fewer wages. Recent surveys have shown that wages are increased with the increase in productivity although not with an equal proportion because income disparity has increased too much in society.
10. With technological development all over the world, people started fearing that automation will ultimately lead to joblessness. Some of people gave the idea of universal basic income according to which it would be the responsibility of the state to provide a defined amount of money to all the people whether they are working or not. This is totally a bad idea. As this will not decrease joblessness instead it will motivate people not to do jobs because they will get a stipend from the state while sitting at home and doing nothing.

As there are many benefits of automation, it can also cause damage to our society. A recent study shows that by the end of 2030, automation will eliminate almost 800 million jobs worldwide (Robert, 1993). Only in the US, it will eliminate 73 million jobs(Robert, 1993). But the report also says that this technological change will not just cause destruction in the world but it will also create more jobs (Robert, 1993). As in the past, change in the tech world did not cause any harm to the entire world. The technological shifts will cause job creation, job rotation will occur and people will have the chance to switch their job and opt for a new career. A particular challenge that would be faced due to automation will be income inequality. As time passes, income inequality will increases which will lead to political instability. People who need counseling to opt for a new career would be middle-aged professionals, not young ones.

In developed markets like US and UK, automation will increase the financial disparity. The demand for low or middle-skill jobs will decline whereas cognitive and creative jobs will be highly paid thus creating income disparity in society. Although automation will bring a lot of changes these changes won’t hit everyone. If the cutting-edge technology that we have today is widely adopted, even after that only 5% of the total current occupation will be fully automated (Riley, 1997). Whereas, 60% of the jobs will get their third activities automated. Mckinsey’s researcher while quoting a US official said that “technology destroys jobs but not work. While further explaining this, he shares the data on the effect of computers on the life of Americans since 1980 (Robert, 1993). He says that since the invention of the computer around 18.5 million jobs have been created.

There rises a big question what will humans do if machines took all of their tasks? A recent study shows that technological advancements have created a lot more job than it has destroyed. A study shows that a rapid employment contraction trend in the industry of manufacturing and agriculture has been seen but this trend has been offset by the speedy growth in the sectors of technology, creativity, caring, and business services. There is no doubt that machines have taken many hard tasks from humans but still, we have not reached that point where machines can totally eliminate the need of humans. Some hard, dull, and dangerous jobs have declined due to the change in technology.

In some industries, technology has clearly eliminated jobs but Stewart and his colleagues argue that those were the jobs that we really wanted to pursue. Technological development has definitely substituted human power and while doing so it has increased productivity and has eliminated many jobs. A recent study shows that in 1901, around 200,000 people were involved in washing clothes but in 2011, this figure drops to 35,000 (Hoff et. al., 2015).

In some industries, including education, medicine, and professional services, technology has helped to give rise in productivity as well as it has increased the employment rate. With the increase in technological development and with the invention of the computer, many jobs have been created. Technological development has boosted jobs in many areas.

Technological changes where eliminating many jobs, and it is also creating surplus jobs that are also highly paid. In addition, it is also helping many of the handicapped people in our society due to newly invented products that are being introduced in the markets. For example, the driverless car is going to be a game changer in the world. This car not only provides handicapped people a safe way of transportation, it also gives them the autonomy to go anywhere they want. This invention can further help in reducing the number of accidents. Like if someone is too much drunk after a party, or falls asleep, his driverless car would take care of it.

Business people can also get benefit from automation by reducing their workload and increasing their profits. The latest form of this technology is the automation of the answering system. Each of us has taken advantage of this system but sometimes we take the fact for granted that without the help of these technologies our lives would be much more difficult and it would be very difficult for us to make a contact with the right person at the right time.

Technological developments have decreased the prices of basic human necessities, such as food, the price of kitchen, and other household appliances. This leaves people with more money and thus it creates more jobs and more demand for leisure stuff. Although the traditional pub industry has shown a decline but still according to the census, the employees in the bar industry quadrupled between 1951-2011 (Griffiths et. al, 2005).

Although many technological developments have occurred since the last century if it has closed the door for one job it has opened many other venues. Even collectors and investors have greatly benefitted from the automation process. Investors snagging collectibles from online sites allow the automation process to bid on their behalf. Doing this saves time as well as helps the investor not to make any rash decisions while he is in a bidding war. This automation process also helps the investor to keep a check on the stock market by analyzing the prices of the stocks. This helps the investor either for investing in the stocks or prevents him from purchasing the stocks without remaining dependent on the stockbroker.

Conclusions

As time passes, we are facing many developments around us of which one is technological developments. Tech world is progressing so fast that it has made some threats to the human world. Although automation has made our life so much easier it has also affected the human race by eliminating of jobs. But looking at the historical data, we come to know that automation had mostly cut down the job that was dumb, dry, and dangerous. Automation has not effected the net job loss in the economy as if it caused the elimination of jobs in some of the industries, it has also caused the creation of jobs in many other industries. So, automation does not have a negative impact on our society infact, it causes an increase in the GDP and brings prosperity in our society.

Works Cited

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