TL;DR: The world as we know it could be on the verge of a major turn in the realm of the labor force. That’s right– robots. We need to make changes to ensure that advances in technology do not hinder how or if people are able to secure a job.

It has long been just an amusing thing that people have said or predicted– robots are going to take over the world. With the extreme advancement in technology throughout the last two decades or so, there have been people that worry about adverse effects that new devices and advancements could have on our culture. Now, while robots are certainly not going to take over the world (as long as we are smart), recent statistics have shown that some of our technology breakthroughs have indeed started to impede on our societal ways. Particularly, the labor force has been a major area of focus and concern, as traditional human occupations can now be accomplished with robots. There is a natural divide among people about whether this is good or bad and what kind of solutions can be implemented. Some traditionalists say that technology has gone too far and that we need to keep human jobs as first priority while others say that technology needs to continue to be advanced as it has helped our lives in so many ways. My own view is that while I believe that advancing technology is very important, I think there needs to be and are solutions to ensure that human jobs are not getting taken away. This includes an interesting balance between cutting back on robots in the labor force, and having human skills be improved as a result of these technological breakthroughs.

When you look at some of the objections to my claim, they all make the argument that technology has already proven itself in making our lives easier and we should not restrain it. They claim that it should be on us humans to be better in our jobs to make sure that we are not replaced. However, my objectors blatantly ignore two facts. One is that it is often not possible to outperform these robots. Also, if we destroy the labor force our economy will wither and our advancements will not matter anyway. The first solution to this problem involves the government and legislation that should be enforced. There need to be laws that have certain guidelines about two things: how much a certain company or establishment is allowed to use robots for labor, and a certain amount that a company or establishment has to employ human workers. One thing that people often say is they do not notice robots taking any jobs and so they do not believe that it is a problem. One big example, however, is cashiers. We have all used the self-checkout stations at Wal-Mart and have you ever stopped to think about why? Because it is easier! We are already seeing a balance between robots and humans in this case, as there are still human cashiers if you prefer. However, more and more people are using the self-checkout. So, how can we ensure that human cashiers do not become something you tell your grandkids about in 40 years? It has to start with laws. Congress needs to pass laws to protect human workers and make sure companies allocate a certain amount of hours to workers so that their occupations do not become obsolete. While the specifics of these laws are up for debate, there is no argument that the increasing use of robots needs to have some sort of restraint.

The second solution to the impending problem of robot interference in labor has to do with schooling. We need to tackle this problem at the academic level and early so that the effects are natural. This involves teaching students valuable labor skills that are often ignored currently and will help set students apart from robots. One thing that needs to be realized is that we as humans have valuable assets that make us better at certain things. Robots cannot interact with people or have an emotional quality or impact on them. This is a huge advantage that we as humans have and so we need to focus on that. It starts with implementing more communication and emotionally-based skills into our students. In this age of smart phones and social media, we have become a society which relies less and less on physical and verbal communication, often opting more for screen-based communicating. By having students do more things such as give oral presentations and exercises in body language, we will further our advantage on robots in this area. This will also help with normal things that you will have to do such as a job interview, discussions with a client, or even a public speech. It all depends on what field you are going into, but the fact is that almost every one will require you to utilize some sort of communication skills.

According to Martin Ford, “Oxford University researchers have estimated that 47% of U.S. jobs could be automated within the next two decades.” That is a staggering and scary number, and one that should inspire everyone to try and make a change to prevent it. The changes have to start with us humans, as we are the only ones who can control ourselves. That 47% number will become much smaller if we are able to accomplish the two solutions which I have laid out. One, is that the government has to protect humans first. This is a pretty obvious one, but it will go a long way towards creating a precedent where companies have to cut back on non-human labor and protect the hours of human employees. In addition, we need to step up and better the skills that we are teaching our students. The only way in which we can ensure that robots do not completely take over the workforce is to be better than them at communication and emotional interaction. If these two tasks are accomplished, we can stop the uprising.

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McNeal, Marguerite. “Rise of the Machines: The Future Has Lots of Robots, Few Jobs for Humans.” Wired. Conde Nast, 06 Aug. 2015. Web. 08 May 2017. https://www.wired.com/brandlab/2015/04/rise-machines-future-lots-robots-jobs-humans/.