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Over the last 200 years or so, machines have been slowly replacing workers / human labour but it did not throw people out of work – people still had jobs. Machines took on jobs that were repetitive and time consuming and increased overall productivity. Thanks to technology more work got done, faster and more efficiently.
Totally taking over jobs for humans
But lately the progress in the capability of machines has gone above and beyond what was happening earlier. Machines and robots are totally taking over jobs that have always been reserved for humans. As a result a large proportion of the working population is getting displaced very fast – jobs like driving, sales, etc are being totally done by machines in many countries. The new machines being developed today are being fitted with skills that they have not possessed so far – they can now understand, speak and think – an area that has been the prerogative of humans and humans alone. With the enormous technological developments in the area of robotics, machine learning and artificial intelligence, people are being made totally redundant and unnecessary.
Machines replacing human jobs – Upside
Machines replacing human jobs have its upside – when technology progresses, quality improves, prices decrease, profits rise and the economy grows. At the same time when people are freed from mundane, routine, non-intellectual, clerical work, they have the time and energy to devote to more creative, innovative thinking which can lead to discoveries and inventions and the overall betterment of society at large. In the new technology driven world, entrepreneurs, financiers, artists, scientists can all come together to envisage and create a totally different future world.
Machines replacing human jobs – Downside
But this system has its downside too. As machines become more popular than human labour, people especially lower and middle class blue collar workers are the ones who are the first targets for redundancy. They do not have the necessary education or skills to move to other places of work. Their incomes go down leading to dissatisfaction and unhappiness on the personal and home front. With a fall in their incomes, demand for goods and services go down to and that has adverse effect on economic growth. The more educated have the skills to take on the machines or they possess the means to upgrade their skills and move onto similar or better jobs. Such a scenario increases income inequality in society – which does not make for either a happy or an efficient, productive society.
A short term solution to this kind of problem
A short term solution to this kind of problem is to have better educational facilities, build infrastructure, encourage and nurture entrepreneurs but this cannot stop the march of the machine age. The economies of countries need to put their heads together and come up with a more far reaching and sustained solution that is more radical. While it is only blue-collar and labour intensive jobs that are being currently affected by machines, very soon professionals, skilled workers, entrepreneurs, scientists and artists will also be replaced by artificial intelligence and automation. The move has already started in some places and if we do not do something, the world is likely to face a time when machines control humans.