Exploratory Essay Discussion

Writing Submission

Currently, technology is advancing faster than ever before, influencing the way we live our lives, giving us easy access to information, medicine, food, and shelter. Technology is making life easier for everyone, and one of its many purposes is to reduce the physical labour required to complete specific tasks. However, I believe there is a disadvantage to this advancement in technology. In the more recent years, automation in technology has been emerging, and it has been extremely noticeable to me, as I have heard mentions of automation everywhere, such as the news, social media, and many websites. Examples of automation may include self-driving cars, automatic machinery, self-checkouts, etc. All of these examples have something

It is estimated that 47% of current jobs in America are at risk of being replaced by computers/automation, and that it is entirely probable that more than half of these jobs WILL be replaced, in the next two decades. The replacement of these jobs is imminent, and may occur in the very near future. In fact, it is already happening right now. When you think of automation, you will probably think of large machines/robots working in factories, doing repetitive tasks. This is a great example of automation. Many factory workers around the world have already had their jobs replaced by machines. To give an example of this, the Taiwanese electronics company Foxconn has recently replaced 60,000 of its 110,000 workers at one of its factories, at May of this year. Let that sink in. 60,000 jobs taken away. 60,000 people made redundant and unemployed. More than half of the factory replaced, all in the name of profit. Hopefully this has opened your eyes to the harm which can be caused by automation. However, automation is not limited to just factory machines. A very wide range of jobs have the potential to be replaced by automation. For example, new self-driving cars - such as Tesla’s

For example, the agricultural industry at the turn of the 20th century had a 38% share of employment, and at the turn of the 21st century, 2%. Where did all these jobs go? No one could predict the advancements in technology which made many different industries emerge, such as tourism, technology, and healthcare. The world adapted to this technological revolution, and now there are even more jobs than ever before. This poses the question: Why is this time different? Well, the number of industries we can just produce is finite, and it is probable most industries have already been created. Also, technology is more advanced than ever, and we have nearly achieved automation so advanced that nearly all human tasks can be completed by robots/computers/machines. As technology advances even further, automation will be much cheaper and better, making it more widespread, and more tasks can be completed by