Can technology fully replace the job done by the working man?

The advances in technology these days have been outstanding. I never thought that we would be as far along in the world from a technological standpoint as we are now (even though I’m still waiting on my time machine). We now have phones that do more than just make calls, computers that do more than writing documents, and cars that do more than just driving. It’s a great thing to have all these new gadgets to make our lives a little less stressful and a lot more relaxing. But how does this new form of automation interfere with the jobs that some of us have?

In Brian Hayes “Automation on the Job”, he discusses how technology is so much bigger than what it was in the 1900s that it’s taking over some people’s jobs. For example, we now use machines to make our cars instead of a full employee assembly line. It’s an amazing thing to have something that mechanical and automatic to make a a Ford truck without any real manual labor. This kind of technology would be suitable to reduce some people’s hours or even replace their jobs in their respectable fields, but surprisingly, we are working even harder than ever before even with these new forms of automation on the job.

I would assume that since we have the kind of technology to take care of the tasks that we do at work, we wouldn’t need to be at work at all. But then, you have to think about how would someone control the machinery or who will fix it if it happens to have a malfunction? It’s probably a valid reason as to why the amount of people working is still at a steady increase. We may have the technological means to get a job done, but some machinery may not work automatically and may need someone on the other side to control what it does. It needs a person that knows it inside and out so that they can fix all the issues that may come across or even help build newer and even better machinery to do the job even better.

I do have to say that technology has definitely made life a lot easier but it also keeps us hardworking as well. We as people still need to know how to function a cell phone, a computer and even drive a car. Plus, I’m pretty sure people wouldn’t let go of their jobs just because there is new technology that can do it for them. Money is always needed in this world we live in, especially in the economy that we have now. The people who now work alongside machinery stay getting paid for doing work that the machinery probably cannot do and more people are getting jobs to keep the technology functioning and updated. Either way, it is still a win-win situation: for both man & machine.

 

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