Robotic Labor

Words: 1225
Pages: 5

The United States is on the edge of another industrial revolution, the switch of man-made labor with robotic labor (Nica 69). Over the past few decades robots only had the capability to assist humans with such things as production per capita, these days, they seem to be replacing us across the board. Because of this, the next industrial revolution will have far reaching implications on various sectors of the economy such as; the transportation, service, manufacturing, and medical industries. Worst case scenario, the substitution of human labor for autonomous robotic labor could spearhead technological unemployment, which is unemployment brought about by technological achievements in production. (Danaher 48). People are left wondering what the …show more content…
The service business always depended on an influx of cashiers, clerks and other minimum wage jobs; however, in the last couple years, this seemingly common job has been steadily disappearing from big business. Department stores and supermarkets have been periodically erasing jobs from the workplace. Many stores such as Publix or Walmart are now building self-checkout lines, or machines that allow the shopper to scan their own barcodes and bag their own goods. Thus, leaving many employees feeling useless at their own job. I personally have taken notice of this fact, most people I see at a department store will always opt for the self-checkout even if it’s a slightly longer line. In the fast food industry, Mc Donald’s has been remodeling their stores while installing touchscreen display pads that are used to help make ordering easier. (Peterson 1). Human staff are becoming more and more cost worthy when comparted to that of a machine. A company called Momentum Machines recently released a machine capable of producing up to 360 hamburgers an hour; while simultaneously slicing condiments! These machines will ultimately beat out much of minimum wage workers as they can do the same job but quicker and for less …show more content…
However, on the contrary, the ever-increasing need for robotics puts tension on developers to design and create less expensive and more useful machines. Some analysts suggest the price per robot would have to fall from $50,000 and up to about half that. Coincidently Rodney Brocks, owner of Roomba, successfully created and programed an industrial robotic arm costing only $22,000. This verifies the possibility of full-scale adaptation of robotic machernery to all critics and skeptics. The most common case made by skeptics is that the revolution will create new jobs faster than they will disappear. Thomas Frey stated, new opportunities would arise such as curing long-term ailments and exploring the solar system (2). Critics also point out the fact that humans still need to develop, construct, and code these machines opening more jobs in the tech industry. The popular refutation for this argument is simply not everyone has the necessary skill requirements to become a robotics designer or to travel into space. Millions of individuals depended on those minimum wage jobs to support themselves. Even if more jobs were to open afterwards, there still won’t be enough jobs for