NEWS & MEDIA
The Future of Work: Automation and Artificial Intelligence in the Employment World
By BEN DROGUE, Marketing Assistant
So far, the 2020’s have been the decade of AI and Automation. In just 2023, the leaps and bounds made by AI have changed how people think about ideas, create and approach many everyday tasks. Given more time to develop, this type of technology may have the ability to do creative work of higher quality and faster than any human.
While AI may impact the creative world, the advancement of automation technology has the chance to have a much deeper and more profound impact on the workforce. Manufacturing, packaging, communication and many other industries have slowly implemented different forms of automation into their workflow.
For example, most domestic car manufacturers have transitioned from being a leading national employer to an almost completely automatic production process. While automated machinery has replaced an unknown thousands of jobs, the increase in efficiency and cut in production cost is undeniable.
Restaurants around the world have begun introducing automated ways of cooking and serving food, with some cutting edge establishments being able to operate without any human employees whatsoever. Avoiding human error in the kitchen such as contamination or serving undercooked foods would be totally avoided, but one of the most accessible entry level industries would no longer be open for hire.
Looking forward, how many industries will eventually be broken down and rebuilt without a human component? While using automated tech for dangerous or potentially hazardous jobs makes logical sense, those jobs are often the highest paying.
Electricians or other trade workers for example, need to be highly precise and can incur serious injuries or lose their life with a single error. Implementing automated technology in those industries would undeniably save lives, but those that invested years into training and certification would suddenly be locked out of their own trades.
If nearly any manufacturing, trade or service job could eventually be replaced with automation, what will the working world be like? What will the majority of workers be doing 10 years from now, other than caring for/watching machines doing their old jobs? The working world has been in transition for years, but greater change may be just over the horizon.
This article originally appeared in the July 1, 2023 edition of Eagle Times.