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  • Author Author: Catwell
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Are machines really taking our jobs? Tech analysts weigh in.

Catwell

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Are you really in danger of being replaced by a machine?

 

First, my opinion. Yes... more jobs will be automated. But, they'll need more engineers to design and maintain it all.

 

We use technology on a daily basis from our smartphones to computers, so it’s no surprise to still hear the old “humans will be replaced by machines” argument. It’s something Hollywood continues to thrive on. While most of us are quick to dismiss the notion, there are some analysts in the field who think it’s already happening. George Zarakadis, a digital lead at Willis Towers Watson, shared his fears that machines are slowly eliminating entry level jobs at the AI Summit in London earlier this year.

 

As if making it through college and dealing with student loans for the rest of your life wasn’t hard enough, machines are taking the jobs graduates depend on. According to Zarkadakis, machine learning and other systems won’t get rid of all jobs, just those pesky entry level ones. He believes machines will eliminate the need for smaller tasks people usually take up when entering the job market. He turns to a study by consultants McKinsey, which showed under one third of tasks that make up 60 percent of jobs on the market will be automated.

 

So what are all those graduates supposed to do if jobs aren’t ready for them? Zarakadis believes it will cause a disruption in the job market, which is already happening thanks to “gig economy.” This is when employers hire people on a contract basis to take on small tasks on an as needed basis, like internships. There’s no full time commitment and no guarantees of long term employment. More and more companies are shrinking the number of full time employees and replacing them with automated systems. When thinking about the current job market, the idea of machines taking away employment opportunities doesn’t seem that farfetched anymore.

 

But as with any theory, there are two sides and not everyone is ready to believe jobs are in danger. Dave Coplin, Microsoft’s chief envisioning officer, is tired of this worn out cliché. Rather he believes technology is meant to help us in our jobs, not replace us. Just think about your own job and how technology makes it smoother, maybe even easier, on a daily basis. Companies are constantly looking to automated systems for both financial and efficiency reasons. Even if we do begin to see more machines in the work place it’ll take place over a long period of time, not in quick succession as people tend to fear. Plus, machines aren’t perfect. If they were, Windows wouldn’t need so many updates.

 

Harrick Vin, chief scientist at Tata Consultancy Services, points out how there are still lots of hiccups to training machine learning systems. These issues have to be solved before they can fully replace manual labor. And with the ever changing field of technology, they may never be fully fixed. Currently, it take from six to 18 months to train machines for various domains. So you probably don’t have to worry about being replaced by machines just yet.

 

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  • The premise of this story and the question posed in its title is a red herring. It side steps the real issue of the growth of automation technology and how the nature of work has changed. This kind of story is not new. I recall when I was younger having to read Alvin Toffler's "FutureShock" for a class writing assignment. By its very nature, the work was unnecessarily alarmist, as is the category of literature that bemoans technology. The wonders that technology offers humankind are the 8th Wonder of the World. There have been NO loss of jobs; rather, it is the type of jobs that have been created by the growth of technology is what has altered how we work. Human beings are increasingly not doing the actual work; rather, they are supervising the machines that perform the work. In turn, unskilled, brawn-type of jobs are being replaced by STEM-trained jobs. If there has been any failure at a high level (public policy makers), it is the lack of stress on the importance of training or re-training. There should be no road blocks to getting advanced education. All education should be totally free! It is terribly ridiculous that a new graduate is weighted down with $40,000 in debt. I have pondered my own life, which has taken a lot of twists and turns, both personally and career-wise. But I do recall what inspired me to work hard at learning mathematics (which initially didn't come to be naturally) was the Apollo space program and my being in Houston the day that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon. To be an astronaut, I had to know math and science.  So I worked at understanding mathematics and functions y = f(x); once I learned the beauty of match, everything fell in place. If people believe that machines and technology are taking their jobs, they are out of touch with reality.

  • in reply to rscasny

    The space programs were inspiration to me too; although I never got to see them in person, I did manage to make my way to Florida to see the final shuttle launch, and a couple of opportunities after that to see the shuttle exhibition after it had returned. Inspiration comes from sources like these as you say. It is a shame that for the new potential engineers out there, anything engineering related gets brief visibility on TV and in contrast shows like X Factor/Big Brother dominate.. not saying such stuff shouldn't exist, but the proportion is unhealthy.

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  • in reply to rscasny

    The space programs were inspiration to me too; although I never got to see them in person, I did manage to make my way to Florida to see the final shuttle launch, and a couple of opportunities after that to see the shuttle exhibition after it had returned. Inspiration comes from sources like these as you say. It is a shame that for the new potential engineers out there, anything engineering related gets brief visibility on TV and in contrast shows like X Factor/Big Brother dominate.. not saying such stuff shouldn't exist, but the proportion is unhealthy.

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