Category | Op Ed

Rise of the machines

Published on April 28, 2009 by Kevin Schmidt

Technological advancement is something our generation has grown up with. 

45 years ago a computer would fill up a large room. Now it can fit in the palm of your hand.

The evolution of technology means more powerful machines-machines that can do work once thought only able to be done by humans.

What does that mean for the future? Simply put it would lead to what is called technological unemployment. The robots will take your job.

It’s happening as we speak. For example, I haven’t walked into my bank in almost a year. I make all my deposits and withdrawals from the Automated Teller Machine (ATM). When our generation is the majority of bank customers, there will be far fewer human tellers.

Drew Carey hosted a Reason.tv video about this subject in which he asked, “Now, think about it. How are we supposed to compete against something that doesn’t get paid, doesn’t get health insurance, and never goes on breaks?”

The video ends on a positive conclusion saying, “There’s no need to take a sledgehammer to a robot, because, although technology shakes up the labor market, it ends up giving us higher living standards as well as more and better job opportunities.”

That’s a more optimistic conclusion. While they are generally correct about the higher living standards and job opportunities, there are countless problems in the future of technology.

An article in USA Today reports on a engineering school in the suburbs of Tokyo that is working on integrating robots into human society.

It explains that “while robots are a long way from matching human emotional complexity, the country is perhaps the closest to a future - once the stuff of science fiction - where humans and intelligent robots routinely live side by side and interact socially.”

Japan is much further on the path to robot integration than are. The same article says, “Robots make sushi. Robots plant rice and tend paddies. There are robots serving as receptionists, vacuuming office corridors, spoon-feeding the elderly. They serve tea, greet company guests and chatter away at public technology displays. Now start-ups are marching out robotic home helpers.”

As robots become part of our societies, ethical concerns arise. A study by the British government looks ahead to the next 50 years and concludes that robots may eventually be able to demand the same citizen’s rights as humans. A BBC article described the situation noting that “If granted, countries would be obliged to provide social benefits including housing and even “robo-healthcare,” the report says.”

Ron Arkin, a roboticist, believes that robots will “be better soldiers than humans. They could strictly follow the rules of engagement, codes of conduct and war protocols far better than more passionate humans, resulting in a reduction of war crimes.”

As if a world full of terrorism and all kinds of weapons of mass destruction that can destroy the world three times over isn’t enough, now we can re-enact the Terminator series in real life.

In the future, will we look back at this time in our lives and think that these were the golden days of technology? Will the future advances of technology create a dystopia of robot armies and robot economies?  Ron Arkin asks, “Is it a good or bad thing if robots become our natural successors and we fade into extinction?”

The mere thought of having to ask that question should tell us why we should proceed with caution with technology, because unless you approve of the idea of robots replacing us, we need to make sure the longterm future includes humans.