I like robots. Robots of science fiction, robots of film and yes even robots of the lab and daily life, but this fondness is seasoned with knowledge that robots and associated computer systems are a game changer for humanity. There are serious social questions we will never really have time to ask before we rush into the future.
Robots have replaced workers in many areas of labor. They are an accepted fact of life on assembly lines and while their introduction did replace human labor, the fact that the labor was unskilled or semi-skilled caused little concern for the majority of the upper middle class and no concern at all for the upper classes. Robots have helped decrease the cost of goods while simultaneously increasing profits. On the bright side they consume no food so that they can continue to crank out plastic marvels long after a human work force has succumbed to starvation. Robots are the perfect proletariat and have been the holy grail of industry since before the Czech word, from robota compulsory labor, was used in fiction.
Well, perhaps not that perfect. Robots don’t buy goods. Henry Ford paid a living wage, for two reasons: forestall unionization and ensure a market for his products. Robots are not part of the consumer chain. Their labor ends the cycle of produce, consume, produce.
Still not to be worried. High unemployment whether related directly to robotized industry or other market forces really is helpful to the health of business as it reduces the value of labor and thus the profit margin. Besides, robots can not leverage their talents to make signification inroads into the professions or the office work place. Can they?
With the advent of marvels like IBM’s Watson the day that robots will be tapped to take on more than the mundane or dangerous tasks of society is fast approaching. I don’t blame robots for the state of the world’s economy. I only wish to suggest that the march to replace human labor did not stop on the assembly line floor. The pressure to replace labor with a machine is market driven. It is the old human story of if we can we will.
Already robots and computerized system have begun to replace highly skilled craftsmen. Next in line will be the soft skills that we like to think only human’s can provide. From interpreting MRI results to giving advice on case law, machines are being created to interact with humans on a eerily human level.
What should we think about the march toward robotization? Should we fear our redundancy, celebrate human creativity and invention as culminated in the robots of the future or resignedly embrace a world in which the commonly accepted social structure is turned upside down and poor humans, bereft of options for labor, are lower on the social spectrum than automatons who produce the goods demanded by those lucky enough to have the means to consume the products of the robot’s labor?