Analysis Of Better Than Hum Why Robots Will And Must: Take Our Jobs

Robots can effect employment in a negative way,as said by the author Kelly “It may be hard to believe… 70 percent of today’s occupation will likewise be replaced by automation...even you will have your job taken away by machines”(Kelly Page.300), this quote comes to show the negative aspect of robots taking over the world in the near

Manufacturing has always been an essential job throughout the world, but ever since the introduction of robots and machines into factories around the globe, these lower class jobs have been declining in numbers. But is this decline bad? This decline is especially true in the assembly line jobs in the automotive industry. This decline in manufacturing class jobs began in the 1960s when General Motors introduced Unimate and had huge success (Norman). This ignited a huge influx of robots and new technologies to automate the processes of building cars. While president, Richard Nixon spoke about how investment in technology will improve the workplace. Opposite to Nixon’s speech, in the article “A World Without Work”, robots are portrayed to

In today’s America, with robots on the rise, many people are feeling as if machines are threatening their jobs, and therefore their income, way of life, and basic stability. This is not an unreasonable fear. In 2013, Carl Frey and Michael Osborne with the University of Oxford predicted at as many as half the jobs in the United States could be automated within the next twenty years (Frey and Osborne). Even in the 1930s, economists such as John Maynard Keynes, the creator of Keynesian economics, predicted that technological developments could create economic climate that allows for a 15-hour work week with plenty of free time for the average American worker by the year 2030 (Thompson). The American workforce is shifting towards this prediction

The rivalry between humans and machines has been present since the beginning og the the world. Trying to make the world easier for humans has been one of the life goals for society in order to crate a better world; however, those people don’t know that as society progresses the worse it is to introduce automated machines, Intelligent machines are a threat for society because it will increase unemployment and poverty.

In an age where technology is so advanced that robots replace humans in the workplace, it is no surprise that increasingly fewer Americans are considered full-time employees. While proponents of advancement argue that technology adds a high level job for every low level job it takes away, low class manufacturing jobs will not be the only newly-automated jobs. Due to rapid advancement, computers are projected to be one thousand times more powerful in the 2030s than computers today (McChesney and Nichols, 2016, 246). With these improvements, no human’s job is safe.

In “Better Than Human,” Kevin Kelly, Senior Maverick of Wired Magazine, insists that automation will allow us to become more human. When society grants automation the permission to complete the most menial tasks, it will allow individuals trapped in dead-end careers such as fastening bolts onto cars, to search for their true passions which only humans can accomplish. More people will be able to pursue jobs that robots, for now, can not complete with ease. Kelly believes that as artificial intelligence and the creators of it advance, more jobs will be created to fulfill society's growing needs. The simple tasks of assembling new machinery can be completed by the already established automation; while the job of developing software that controls

In her introduction, Barbara Garson gives the reader an idea of her personal work experience as a clerk with automation. One can see that Garson is a strong critique of automation. In order to convey how automation is affecting our society the author begins by analyzing and studying various jobs from the bottom on up (i.e. starting with the most unskilled labor).

We have already seen a decrease in jobs due to automation. Since 2000, the United States has lost 5 million factory jobs, while from 2006 to 2013, manufacturing grew by 17.6% (roughly 2.2% a year). 88% of those jobs were lost due to “productivity growth,” cites a study by Ball State University. The study also found that all sectors grew in terms of productivity by at least 32% from 1998 to 2012 when adjusted for inflation, with computer and electronic products rising 829%. In fact, the researchers found: “If 2000-levels of productivity are applied to 2010-levels of production, the U.S. would have required 20.9 million manufacturing workers instead of the 12.1 million actually employed.” In summary, due to companies’ expenditures in automation and software, the output per U.S. manufacturing worker has doubled over the past two decades. Indeed, “the real robotics revolution is ready to begin,” according to the Boston Consulting Group, who predict “the share of tasks that are performed by robots will rise from a global average of around 10% across all manufacturing industries

Compared to last century, workers in manufacturing jobs feel more threatened by automation than ever before. While the number of jobs eliminated by automation continues to increase, employers are also less willing to create jobs. In the article "Special report: Automation puts jobs in peril," Nathan Bomey, a business reporter for USA Today, explores the current position of manufacturing workers. In the article, Bomey explains how, "about 58% of CEOs plan to cut jobs over the next five years because of robotics, while 16% say they plan to hire more people because of robotics" (3). Only the United States Government has the power to create a solution to the quandary of workers affected by the switch to technology in the workforce.

Currently, there are jobs that robots can do better than humans, such as weaving and car manufacturing (Kelly 306). Again, when those machines first came to fruition, they eliminated human jobs, but then created jobs. Additionally, there are jobs that humans simply cannot do without robots such as making computer chips (Kelly 306). Looking toward the future, Kelly concludes that if we collaborate with machines and allow them to take over, we will “let them help us dream up new work that matters” (Kelly 312).

As technology advances and robots become more vital to our everyday life, machines will ruin the human race. Although, the invention of robots has created major controversy around it, according to Kevin Kelly, writer of “Better than Human: Why Robots Will—and Must—Take Our Jobs”, it is believed that increasing automation in the workplace must occur because it will benefit our society and increase productivity. He suggest that instead of essentially competing against robots we should welcome them and work alongside them. Kelly uses convincing arguments and an authoritative matter of fact tone to successfully persuade the reader, but fails to use counter arguments to further prove his argument.

Some science fiction authors have predicted horrible futures due to AI and robots taking over jobs and later humanity, but many writers like Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson (authors of The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies) dismiss this idea as one unlikely extreme. McAfee and Brynjolfsson describe in their book the nature of machines and manual labor as complements and how their slow delving into becoming economic substitutes as objectively good rather than negative. Businesses naturally do risk cutting automated jobs, but such a move would open an entire new field of jobs for humans to fix and build machines. In turn, businesses like RobotWorx argue that they can make more profit, increase wages for the quality of work from their skilled workers, and remain at the competitive level expected in the modern economic market (more extensive list can be found in their website here). Naturally, such statements beg the question that our economy would not crash because it would naturally adapt and shift due to the moves as it has when such inventions like the assembly line and textile mills came to invention.

We all love technology. In most cases, it helps make life easier, but it also comes at a price. As more jobs become automated, certain occupations will eventually disappear. At some point in the near future many or all jobs will be replaced by some type of automation or an intelligent machine of some sorts. But according to most media sites like BBC, CNN and many more have reported this will happen sooner than later. but what is the most shocking is taxi drivers, lawyers/paralegals are at risked of automation. What isn't as of a shock is nearly all factory workers and soldiers are at risk now, but in the near the whole medical field will soon be replaced by automation.

Introduction: Humanity has always struggled with the concepts of automation because of its lasting effects on people. While most would argue against automation in this classroom, I suggest instead that we accept it and allow it to become part of our lives. I have family members whose jobs have been replaced by automation, and I honestly think they are living a better life because of it. It will affect humans well in both the long and short term by allowing us to continue to push towards an optimistic future. I understand that this is a long way off, and I understand it will be a hard road but it is worth it.

Over time our lives seem to have become more and more integrated with our technology. Some may say that this is a very bad thing because this change may result in the loss of jobs for millions of people. Jobs such as, cashiers, bankers, legal assistants, and maybe even taxi drivers. The future may appear bleak at first, but the truth of the matter is that robots taking over our simple and automatable jobs just mean that our jobs can evolve with the technology. A very similar thing happened during the industrial revolution when technologies were developed that massively increased the efficiency and yield of farming. This in turn led to a vast increase of food in the country which led to a lesser need for everyone to be a farmer. With a massive amount of food, former farm workers, and advanced technology, a business of mass production and manufacturing began. The loss of jobs due to technology led to a