Overtime, the art of robotics has been rapidly and vastly improving.
Not only in our normal lives but at our everyday jobs as well. The workplace is a prime example of the elevation in technology and how it can affect employees. So, does this mean that people will be out of a job? Or will we be able to use technology to our advantage? This is a question that the world is searching for an answer to.
In 2015, Forbes senior editor Susan Adams says that the top three skills that employers are looking for are, “Ability to work in a team structure, ability to make decisions and solve problems, and the ability to communicate verbally with people inside and outside an organization.” According to World Economic Forum, the top skills that were needed in 2015 are significantly different from the skills that will be needed in the year 2020; which are, complex thinking, critical thinking, and creativity. These skills should set apart the work of robots from the work of humans. As reported by Sebastian Thurn of Google X, “We have to move from a repetitive working society into a creative society where we invent new things.” One of the things that computers are masters at doing is being repetitive. One way that humans and robots can become a unit is by humans getting better at being creative. Now with that being said, what about those who can’t meet these standards? Will they be out of a job?
The answer to that question is very uncertain but there are key factors that would cause many to believe that this is a large possibility. For starters, the wealth that technology makes is not broadly shared with workers. Over the past 40 years, while the economy is growing, after accounting for inflation, the income of the low- and middle-class citizens has generally been stagnant, while it continuously increases for the high-class citizens. Furthermore, even though the unemployment rate has a chance of being low, economic inequality which is already more extreme in the US than it is in most other advanced countries, has a large chance of proliferating. Even though technology is one of the keys as to why the economy is growing so fast, it isn’t set in stone. The government is in control of how society handles disruptions, which worries people in all areas of the economy about the future of work.
In conclusion, it is almost certain that businesses will become more productive and there will be many employees working side by side with artificial intelligence and adding to the increase of productivity as well. But for the rest, it’s very uncertain to determine their fate. Society won’t know until we get there.