Automation: an overview
Artificial intelligence and automation, things that sounded as sci-fi decades ago, are now a concern that more and more people are getting aware of. Some are excited about technological development; others have watched many sci-fi movies and believe robots will turn against us, and some are worried about their jobs and afraid of being replaced by a robot. Above all, the whole panorama of automation is more complex than high-skilled/low-skilled workers and unemployment. In order to understand the big picture, it is necessary to consider not only the socio-economics, but also the potential effect automation might have in our daily life and how we will adapt to it.
First, it is generally claimed that the most benefited from automation will be corporations; which may be true, but is not all. Considering that workforce represents the higher cost for most companies, less workforce equals more money; money that not only would allow company to lower costs, but also could be invested to improve product/service quality. Also, taking into account these factors, it wouldn’t be imprecise to say that competitiveness will raise, which would lower prices and make companies to improve their products/services too. Obviously, it is unlikely that things will be free, but at least we will get better products/services for a lower cost.
Second, when it comes to employment; it is true that man people will lose their jobs, despite of not being the whole picture. According to an Oxford study by Frey & Osborne (2013), an estimate of 47% of US jobs is at risk of automation. This includes not only jobs that do not require some kind of training, but also jobs that follow a pattern or routine such as Tax Preparation, Insurance Underwriting, Watch Reparation, etc. On the other hand, jobs that require high levels of expertise and/or human interaction are safe, such as Healthcare Social Workers, Occupational Therapists, Audiologists, and so on. Additionally, it is also true that new jobs are being created. For instance, we have jobs that did not exist 10 years ago, jobs such as UX Designer, Data Miner, Cloud Computing Technologist, Sustainability Expert, etc.
Furthermore, there will be opportunities not only for high-skilled workers, but also for everyone with the will of learning and adapting. In other words, we are in the information era; anyone can learn anything thanks to the internet. Platforms such as EDX, Coursera, Future Learn and even YouTube offer free education in many topics, from philosophy to STEM. These days the only thing someone needs to start learning is an internet connection. Since a college degree is not really required in most professions, new jobs will be created and information is everywhere, adaptation to the labor market in the automated world might not be as difficult as thought.
Nonetheless, another key point to consider is whether or not humans will be able to compete/collaborate with robots. As, robots are being developed to be more capable and efficient, which makes it likely that they will perform many tasks better than humans. For humans, in order to stay relevant and not be overshadowed by robots, one alternative could be transhumanism. That is to say, improving human physical and psychological abilities through highly sophisticated technologies. However, transhumanism is much farther than automation and physically it might have unexpected biological and evolutional consequences. Regardless, it is doubtful that AI could fully emulate the human brain, but it is better to be prepared.
In addition, humans may be replaced by robots not only in the labor market, but also in everyday situations. Particularly, sex robots, which are human-resembling realistic robots that can imitate certain human movements, are increasingly sophisticated and realistic. What could be the main attractive of these robots is their potential uses, which could satisfy practically any fantasy. Were sex robots to become popular, many lonely persons would use them to escape reality and not to have to meet new people or improve their sex appeal. Correspondingly, Dr. Ian Pearson predicted that by 2050 sex with robots will be more common that human intercourse, which will lead to a decrease in the already low fertility rate in developed countries.
Another important concern is whether or not AI instead of humans will be safe enough. Specifically, in the case of autonomous cars there are two main questions regarding safety. First, might driverless cars be safer than human drivers? The answer is likely to be yes, since AI cannot get drunk, tired or distracted, which are some of the main causes of car accidents. Second, how safe is safe enough? The answer to this question can be tricky, considering that testing these cars until they are 100% safe could take a very longtime, leading to another question: is it correct to launch automated cars even if they are not proven to be so safe? To answer this, we need to contemplate that were autonomous cars to be slightly safer than human drivers, it would be better to implement them as soon as possible so thousands of lives would potentially be saved.
Finally, probably the biggest concern that comes to mind when talking about robots, are they going to take on us? To put it differently, were robots to become able to reason the way humans do, they could rebel against us. To avoid this, one might think about Asimov’s Laws of Robotics, which theoretically would deter robots from harming people. Nevertheless, these laws are being considered obsolete for some reasons, including that they do not contemplate modern realistic robots but sci-fi style robots. Therefore, Google has set their own real-life version of Asimov’s Laws, which consider possible future risks and problems when implementing AI in a wider range of situations. Of course, this is an affair not only for Google, but also for everybody.
In conclusion, taking into account some issues related to automation, from socio-economics to safety, it is clear that automation will change several things. As everything, automation has its pros and its cons. In the end, whether automation will be overall beneficial or harmful will depend on the factors discussed before.
