Before we read
Write a comment to share your thoughts on these questions that Bixby and Scanlon ask on page 58 (2013).- In recent years, many types of jobs have become automated. What are the pros and cons of this increased reliance on robots?
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Reference
- Bixby, J. & Scanlon, J. (2013). Skillful Reading & Writing, Student's Book 3. Oxford: Macmillan Education
I'm a big fan of automation. It does boring, repetitive tasks much better than humans ever could. This means that the products are consistently higher quality, and they are much cheaper than would be possible if humans had to be paid to slowly make each bit. My 55" TV, for example, cost less last year than a 46" one cost me a few years earlier. And today the 64" ones are even cheaper!
ReplyDeleteA couple of weeks ago, I saw a video (on YouTube?) showing a fully automated restaurant that made meals on demand. The meals were simple, single pot dishes, but it was a sign of the ongoing revolution that began with the industrial age in the mid-1980s and that has taken off with the rise of modern computers, which can do ever more things that a short time ago only humans can do. For example, almost all of my banking these days is handled by machines and computers. it's great.
The obvious downside is that humans are likely to increasingly lose jobs, which I think is going to need some radical social reforms to cope with the massive changes that are starting to arrive. Personally, I like the idea of a universal basic income (UBI), whereby everyone is given a certain amount automatically, with no conditions, so that they have enough to live comfortably whether they work or not. With machines able to produce so much so efficiently, this seems practical to me, and the right thing to do.
But I do wonder what all of us humans are going to spend our leisure time doing. Studying?
The pros are robot can be more accurate than a human and it does not need to take a break. It also reduce the cost for the company that need to pay to hire human worker, this also a double edged sword because human will become more unemployed due to the fact that robot has taking their places.
ReplyDeleteThere are many benefits of using robots or machine. Firstly, machines have more accurate outcome than human because they were programmed to do specific task. Secondly, some machines are cost efficiency when compares to human labor cost. Thirdly, automated machine allow people to do more integrated tasks and develop skills because some jobs are tedious and people can become burn out.
ReplyDeleteWhile the main disadvantage of using machine is that there might be more unemployed people. Imagine some routine jobs such as bank officer, machine issuer and messenger were replaces by the robots, there will be lot of people unemployed. Moreover, the cost of developing machine are rather high.
It clear that some jobs was replaced by advance technology such as robot because it can work in macro scale. It also true that robot can work better than human in some work. For example, repeat work or mass production. In medical context, robot can produce a ton of medicine in just few hours. Human will have more time to invent new extraordinary thing instead of manual work.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I believe that robot cannot replace all of human work. There are several career that require human touch such as service, art or jobs that related to human feeling.
The advantages of using robots is that they has no emotion. They can the same job over and over again without rest and complains. Moreover robots are precise on what command they get, especially if it is about measurements and positions. People can expects the same results done by robot.
ReplyDeleteThe drawback of robots is that they may not have some sense or judgement like human being for some events that is about appropriation, socialization or language. However, people are developing more about robots and trying to overcome this limitation.