In this era of digital workplace everything is at an ease and all the day to day tasks have become a very simple algorithm to do so. But does all this come with a cost? That it will destroy all the jobs? Not exactly though. Of course, the robots and artificial intelligence (AI) will improve the quality of work over the time but won’t take all the jobs of the humans and more specifically the tasks which are especially dedicated to the humans. Meanwhile, the debate over the man versus machines have continued over the time, the International Business Machines (IBM) have proved by felling short in its latest attempt to prove that machines can triumph over the human labor force, according to the business standard budget 2020.
Robots are a reality today that we find them in almost every place we see in almost every shape. They would appear just like the humans, but they would not be human-like, and hence would remain sophisticated machines. Just in the case, humans forget that they are the humans who have created the machines and brought the word of artificial intelligence into the existing world. If any misconduct happens, there are the humans who created them will able to diagnose with a problem and come up with a solution. Robots in most of the cases are not able to do the task themselves, there must be one person with them to do the task efficiently. Robots are great at making the things at ease but to happen so human force alongside is necessary. The use of technology in this generation have become unavoidable but that does not mean it has taken over the jobs and profession of the people which are meant to be of the people. For instance, the doctors have installed high precision robots for their convenience. There are advanced robots who can perform the specific surgeries alongside the guidelines of doctors. That does not mean they have taken over the profession of doctors, but instead doctors have chosen an advanced method for the better health of their patients and serve them more efficiently.
The point is that humans and technology must work together. Robots and AI are created by humans – they're tools that we will use once we give the proper instructions. Humans and robots working together consonant typically would suggest a mutual feeling for each other. Humans will always have control over robots. However, some jobs are meant to be replaced by the robots. For example, the job of mining, which require the human force to go underground and risk their lives under the rocks. But for these jobs, high precision robots and machines have to be installed along with the guidelines and directions of human who have created the algorithm of them. This is necessary.
General cognitive skills such as critical thinking and socio behavioral skills such as managing and recognizing emotions that emphasize teamwork are not replicable by robots. On the opposite hand, an occupational therapist who treats, supports, and assesses individuals at work, has skills unlikely to be replicated by robots alone. Individuals possessing these sorts of skills are more adaptable to changes within the market, they will modify their expertise to other industries.
Further, there are number of more occupations that are not likely to be replaced by AI is the near future. So far, no concept technologies have been developed to build robots that are good enough to replace therapists and child care workers. It all comes down to sympathy and some emotional communication. Some machines lack these two properties that are important in providing effective healthcare and support to children and also the elderly.
The traditional concept of art (painting and sculpturing) cannot be replicated by the robots. They cannot the artists’ creative spark. The work it creates on its own simply can't be considered art without the intention of its human masters. Poetry, music, ceramics, photography et al. are considered the products of human creativity.
You may have heard of a robot that was once considered the world’s first robotic chef. This robot from Moley Robotics, however, is way from a fraction of what a true chef is. It doesn't have the creativity of a chef. It is even incapable of tasting the food it prepares to determine if it's worth serving. It relies on instructions to organize dishes, definitely not what a true chef is predicted to try to do.
Robots and humans can turn out to be better co-workers. Machines could make humans more efficient. At the end of the day, robots won’t ever fully replace humans in the industrial sector. The reason is one – because humans don’t want them to.
Technology is unpredictable. We may not know where it would take us and the world in the next few decades. At a simultaneous time, we cannot predict the numbers of latest jobs/careers that new technology will create. One study from Gartner Research states that while 1.8 million jobs are going to be lost by 2020, 2.3 million new ones are going to be created. Further, artificial intelligence and robotics will create almost 60 million more jobs than they destroy by 2022, report says. Developments of machines and automation software within the workplace could create 58 million new jobs within the next five years, consistent with a report from the planet economic forum (Sept 17, 2018).
“Human interaction is irreplaceable when providing superior customer service”, said Jacob Munns, CEO, Boomsourcing. It amazes us that after all the development in Artificial intelligence, customers still expect the after sales service and all the type of communications from the brands they interact with. In this digital world, customer to customer communication still holds an important place amongst all the odds. It keeps the customer for the long-time retention.
So, the fact is that the future and the coming industrial revolution is about blending humans with technology and not just the technology alone. It can be like that humans are the building blocks or more specifically the DNA behind the technology the generation depends on, or the connection becomes weak.
MIT economics professor Richard Bookstaber put it simple in his book ‘The End of Theory’, “No man is better than a machine and no machine is better than a man with a machine”. Humans have emotions, while machines lack an understanding of human thinking. Humans still tower over the computers, may it be in general intelligence, or creativity and a common-sense knowledge, or may it be understanding of the world.
Intuition is the first thing. Without the need of conscious reasoning, the ability or the power that humans have over other beings and of course, the machines are something different. Robots run on an algorithm designed by humans itself. They run on the rules given to them. But who sets all these rules and regulations, undoubtedly the humans. Robots cannot write their own algorithm or set rules for the other look-alike robot. Same way humans may give their opinion on some part but can never set an instruction for the other person to react or behave the same way he or she behaves.
It is easy to think about cost as simply as just money. A business man would compare the salaries of the human force v/s the manufacturing costs of the robots. Well, according to RobotWorx, the new robots with high precision tools, complete with all the needs and requirements would cost ranging from $50,000 to as high as $80,000. That was to mention just about the basics. Once the application specific installations are done, they can range from $100,000 to $150,000. On the other side, on the basic level, the average annual salary of the employees ranges around $25,000 to $30,000. What about the maintenance. It demands a huge sum of money to add up on it. Besides this, the simultaneous cost of the electricity also adds up. But what if the whole sum of money was just invested for the education of the students who would make up the next generation. This would advantage us at a big scale in the next few decades. Small tasks but efficiently performing robots are an unavoidable thing. But also, they help making this generation people less work and save more time. But again, that does not mean they would replace the jobs.
Change is the greatest challenge of all. To embrace the new culture, a whole new mindset is required. In this generation, change is the only constant. As always, humans are habitual to change but not the robots. Just because robots run on specific set of rules and algorithm. So, from time to time they require to change their block of code which is to be executed. In this competitive world, one must realize that being updated is the only way to get through. Humans need to be working side by side the robots to make healthy environment and for the betterment of the public around the world.