Robots Will Take Over Most Jobs in the Future

The field of technology and the rise of intelligent systems

The field of technology is the most uncertain area of which one cannot determine the innovation will be released in the next day or decade. There are most improvements in the sector which all aim at making work simpler and solve complex computations which sometimes are hard to be addressed by humans. This has resulted in most organizations, companies, and industries to resort to this technologies. Intelligent systems designed with expert knowledge such as robots and knowledge-based systems have become the dominant threats to most people working in sectors which the systems can be applied and function most efficiently.

Opposing views on the introduction of robots in various industries

The robots perform synthesis and computation of any problem based on the predefined services, and it is very accurate in presenting its results. Thus sectors such as medical surgery assistants (Farivar, Molly, Michael, 235), secretariat, accounting, manufacturing, security and even educational activities are going to have robots in the area. However, most sensitive people are opposing the introduction of robots in these sectors since they believe that they will take over most of the human jobs which will result in a global employment crisis. The developers argue that the robots are primarily designed to help humankind in solving daily life problems and complex tasks. But, the reality remains that as the industry continues to evolve most people will lose jobs. Is this evolution a bad thing for the robots to be used at work? This research paper aims at evaluating whether it is a bad idea for robots to take over most jobs in various industries.

Background information

In the article “If Robots Replace Half of US Workers, What Role Will Humans Play?” by Jeff (2015), it is said that in the few years to come, thousands of people will lose their jobs to robots. This will negatively impact the workforce since most skilled people will lack places of work because the robots would already be performing their roles more efficiently. For instance, most of the farming jobs that existed in the past 200 years ago in the United States, almost 69 percent out of 70 percent has been replaced by machines as indicated in the article ”Better Than Human: Why Robots Will — And Must — Take Our Jobs” by Kelly (2015). The industrial revolution has introduced automated tools which can do farm work faster than the people. However, the machines created more opportunities than the jobs that were eliminated. Hundreds of millions of jobs were created thus the people from the farms were not replaced o stayed idle but started working in new fields. For example, some people began manning the legions of the industries that used cars, farm equipment, and other factory products. Other jobs which emerged after the revolution includes farm equipment repair, food chemists, printing, web design, and photography.

The impact of robots on white-collar jobs

Robots are taking over jobs from the manual labor to knowledge work thus even white-collar jobs are soon to be replaced by machines. Most people do not consider artificial intelligence is taking root in most departments. As the introduction of computers increases, their jobs are at stake. Artificial intelligence implemented in most management systems helps in performing duties reliably. For example, the implementation can gather and analyze information from different organizational departments and assist the management in making appropriate and effective decisions which help the business owners and management understand the business projections and make a strategic plan out of critical data analysis (Power, 79; Milovic, and Milan, 126). This indicates that most of the management team members might lose jobs since the systems overtake their role in business data analysis. However, this from the perspective of the company, the decisions are required to improve productivity and improve a company’s competitive advantage into sustainable levels.

The future of employment and automation

According to the predictions of Oxford University researchers, in the next 20 years, the future of employment in the United States is susceptible to automation as computers and robots become more sophisticated. The professor of machine learning, Michael Osborne, said that new opportunities are emerging as the computers are becoming popular in the application in most industries. For instance, Big data analysis, software development and renewable energy (Frey and Michael, 254) which creates jobs for programmers, developers and others such as marketing employees. Most global companies who have been an excellent source of employment such as the Foxconn which produces 1.2 million jobs per year has switched to investment in robots. This is because, there are reduced costs as well as there is an increase in making more profits. If these gains are brought into the table, opposers will not have a say but to shift their minds.

Arguments for and against the replacement of humans with robots

Currently, there is a controversy of arguments between various economies, researchers and technology developers where the economists argue that it is entirely wrong for the robots to replace humans at work (McNeal, 5). They also suggest that the minimum wage is not yet raised whereas globalization is taking over the most industries. The ethical arguments and religion also support this economist’s arguments about the value of humankind and importance of working. They say that it is unethical to replace humans with machines and some who will lose jobs are likely to suffer the challenges of starting to find new employment which might be rare to be found. However, these are only fears created by mental perceptions about the scenario of robots and machines working while humans are idle. According to Atkinson (2017), in his defense to robots, he noted that robots in industries would protect the average employees. Robots usage also in the production offers further productivity value and future advancements, and he emphasized the importance of robots in advancing on the worldwide scale. If we were all to stand and say that technology and artificial intelligence is unethical and has no benefits, the world would not have evolved up to the current environment and operation of activities.

The progress of technology and its potential benefits

According to Atkinson (2017) Shiller, UNCTAD, Gates and others are so much concerned about the well-being of employees who will lose their jobs. But, he said that if jobs can be saved by eliminating technology and stopping innovation, then it should be completely be removed to return the old posts. Anyone including the people opposing change cannot support this; technology is here to stay. Some tasks currently performed by robots could not be handled by humans, for example, pumping of gas affects workers who inhale benzene gas which is hazardous to health such as the breathing challenges.

The future of technology and its impact

Moreover, most people who are in opposition to the robots and machines believe that the rate of growth in today’s technology is unprecedented. But the progress of robotics is trending at a great development pace. For instance, the collaboration between technology and the internet is likely to end most problems such as diseases, poverty, hunger, ignorance, and war. According to technology enthusiasts, the world is moving much closer to the most life-changing technology transformations. In Moore’s law, it is predicted that computer power and processing speed will double in the next two years which is a significant driver for the awaited transformation.

Conclusion - Embracing technology for a better future

Technology is inevitably evolving, and no individual can stop the rapid growth. The rise of innovation over the centuries has resulted in most people losing jobs in various sectors. However, the adoption of machines and robots has introduced numerous new opportunities for the individual who have lost their jobs. Robots help in many industries in innovation and productivity. Although most people oppose the adoption of this technology to most industries, they all cannot deny that technology has helped to make work more manageable. Sophisticated systems handle most challenges and complex tasks which could not have been well performed by humans within a short period. It is well indicated that even if robots are taking on most jobs, it is good since it has helped the world evolve in most sectors which could not have been managed by humans. Due to continuous improvements in technology innovations including the creation of knowledge-based systems and automation of most activities, researchers and technology experts have predicted that by the year 2020, many jobs in the United States will be at risk including the technical ones such as driving. Technology cannot be eliminated from industries since most people will lose millions of jobs than when manual and other posts were replaced with robots. Therefore, robotics and machines are here to help humans than replacing them thus the way to move forward is to use technology to gain the lost jobs.

Works Cited

Atkinson, Robert D. “In Defense of Robots.” National Review, vol. 69, no. 7, 17 Apr. 2017, pp. 35- 37. Academic Search Complete.

Farivar, Behzad S., Molly Flannagan, and I. Michael Leitman. “General surgery residents’        perception of robot-assisted procedures during surgical training.” Journal of surgical education 72.2 (2015): 235-242.

Frey, Carl Benedikt, and Michael A. Osborne. “The future of employment: how susceptible are            jobs to computerisation?.” Technological Forecasting and Social Change 114 (2017):    254-280.

Jeff Ward-Bailey, Correspondent. “If Robots Replace Half of US Workers, What Role Will     Humans Play?” Christian Science Monitor, 28 May 2015. Academic Search Complete

Kelly, Kevin, ”Better Than Human: Why Robots Will — And Must — Take Our Jobs”, Wired. 2012

McNeal, M., ”Rise of the Machines: The Future has Lots of Robots, Few Jobs for Humans”,        Wired, 2015. Available at https://www.wired.com/brandlab/2015/04/rise-machines-    future-lots-robots-jobs-humans/

Milovic, Boris, and Milan Milovic. “Prediction and decision making in health care using data        mining.” Kuwait Chapter of the Arabian Journal of Business and Management   Review1.12 (2012): 126.

Power, Daniel J., Ramesh Sharda, and Frada Burstein. Decision support systems. John Wiley &          Sons, Ltd, 2015.