Impact of Technology on Future Jobs

Technological progress has always created jobs while destroying others. In the past, this
process has been generally accepted as part of society’s progress. However, recent predictions
that robots and artificial intelligence are going to replace hundreds of millions of jobs worldwide
in less than two decades has created a lot of anxiety. Such massive job losses in such a short time
has the potential of creating mass poverty as people may not have enough time to learn new
skills for the new jobs, often requiring many years of training. Even though automation is going
to replace many repetitive jobs, humans providing service jobs can satisfy customers’ wants and
are trusted more than robots.
All indications show that robots would replace many repetitive works done by humans.
In the article Robots could replace nearly a third of the U.S. workforce by 2030, Danielle
Paquette writes that manufacturing sector is going to lose the most jobs to robots because most of
the tasks done by humans in this sector are repetitive and, therefore, can easily be done by robots
(Paquette, 2017). Lee agrees with this view that manufacturing is going to lose most jobs in the
coming age of automation and artificial age. The fears about automation causing significant job
losses are, therefore, not far fetched.
Despite the likelihood that many jobs would be replaced, some jobs will survive because
they are unique. As Lee notes, just because a task can be automated does not mean that it is
going to be actually automated (Lee, n.d.). Paquette holds that creative and empathetic tasks such
as those done by writers, artists, nurses, and caregivers are difficult to automate and may survive

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the onslaught of automation (Paquette, 2017). Lee takes a different view. He believes that even
tasks that can be automated may not be automated after all because market forces, particularly in
the service sector, have popularized personalized services rather than mass and uniform services
that are common with automation (Lee, n.d.). An example is coffee shop where coffee making
and serving to customers can be automated but increasing automation of such tasks is creating a
massive demand for personalized coffee making and customer service (Lee, n.d.). Services that
offer a human touch will, therefore, witness a resurgence in popularity which allow them to
create many jobs.
Although people start taking the benefits from automation, a huge amount of people still
don’t trust robots since there are many uncertain among them. People are more likely to go to
coffee shops for seeking good experience instead of getting a cup of coffee, even though robots
could make the shops more efficient (Lee,n.d.). The reason why people prefer human service to
robots is because people have already known people and they can better understand what they
want. However, there are still many uncertainties among robots resulting in human service is
always first choice. The example of Uber, the American ride-sharing company, perhaps provides
a clearer picture of the future of jobs. The company has previously experimented with self-
driving vehicles. However, they had to stop with the experiments when one of its self-driving
cars killed a person in Arizona in 2018 (Hawking, 2019). Even though it has resumed its self-
driving experiments, this experience shows that even when it is possible to automate a service,
the option of automating it may not be desirable to consumers thus ensuring that many service
jobs retain their security even in the face of automation.
In response, I believe that the age of artificial intelligence and robotics is inevitable.
Many jobs in the service and industrial sectors will be lost. Despite these expected job losses,

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governments should not stop large-scale adoption of these technologies into the economy.
Instead, it should slow down their adoption as it equips people likely to be affected by their
entrance with skills for next generation jobs. Without such plans, artificial intelligence and
robotics will create mass poverty, misery, and even political instability. The regulation of
adoption of these technologies will also give them enough time to mature so that they do not
have harmful effects on society such as accidents recorded by Uber’s driverless cars.
In conclusion, there is little doubt that robots and artificial intelligence are going to do
away with many manufacturing jobs. However, predicted massive job losses in the service sector
may not come to pass since human touch and empathy cannot be replaced by robots. Therefore,
it is crucial for employees, employers and, more importantly, the government to understand the
impact of the robot’s on jobs and adjust accordingly.

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References

Hawking, A. (September 17, 2019). Uber is bringing self-driving cars to Dallas. The Verge.
Retrieved on 20 th September from https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/17/20870969/uber-
self-driving-car-testing-dallas
Lee, T. (n.d.). Automation is making human labor more valuable than ever. Vox. Retrieved on
20 th September 2019 from https://www.vox.com/a/new-economy-future/manual-labor-
luxury-good
Paquette, D. (November 30, 2017). Robots could replace nearly a third of the U.S. workforce by

2030. Washington Post. Retrieved from
      https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/11/30/robots-could-soon-replace-
      nearly-a-third-of-the-u-s-workforce/?noredirect=on