The use of automation to benefit business is nothing new. I always think back to the conveyor belt model thought up by Henry T. Ford when the first mass-produced car was introduced, the Model T. Ford. The idea was straightforward enough and made production infinitely easier; a car would be put together piece by piece by various people along a conveyor belt. This meant that each employee only had to perform one aspect of the production and was therefore very good at it. This lead to decreased production time and a more consistent product.
The next step to this, which you see in most car manufacturers, was to replace the human aspect with machinery which automatically performed tasks along the conveyor belt, removing a great deal of human error and cutting wage costs. Now, with technology becoming more advanced, the near-future offers a further level of automation that will not be exclusive to manufacturing. Robots are set to invade the workplace and take over many jobs in the coming years.
Surprisingly, the generation who were introduced to Skynet and the terminator seem less worried about this than younger people. Research shows that 16-24-year-olds are most worried about the robots in the workplace, perhaps because they wonder what their roles will be when they take over. So, are robots in the workplace a good or a bad thing? Below are a few pros and cons which might sway you for or against the robotic age.
Pros
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Undoubtedly, one main advantage for businesses when it comes to using robotics in the workplace is cost. Once purchased and maintained, the costs end. There is no wage to pay out, holiday, over-time etc. In theory, robots could work around the clock without breaks
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Robots will be more accurate than humans. Sweat can’t get in their eyes or make something slip from their fingers or get tired. Already small robots are being preferred to perform certain surgeries as they are better suited to small, repetitive and intricate tasks.
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Robots can be used in a number of environments that humans would be uncomfortable in. They can work over longer periods of time, in extreme heat or cold and will not complain. Robots in the workplace just mean that businesses can get what the ideal working candidate, a slave.
Cons
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As mentioned in the introduction, the main concern is that robots will take over that much human employment that there will be nothing for many people to do. Over 50% of jobs might be lost to artificial intelligence in the next fifty years but it is unclear whether this is something we should worry about. It is just as likely that the nature of human employment will change, just as it did during the industrial revolution.
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This problem really revolves around how intuitive and advanced the AI technology will be. While robots are much better at prescribed tasks, humans would still be preferable in unexpected situations meaning that there will be some jobs that robots can’t take over. For example, although there are chatbots currently active in commercial businesses, a human would still be favoured over a robot.