Are Your Sentiments For Robots Rosy?
Rosie Robot of The Jestons was simply the best, wasn’t she? The animated superstar stole our hearts in the 1960s cooking, cleaning, mothering and dishing up heavy doses of sarcasm for George, Jane, Judy and Elroy. And let’s not forget George’s faithful office pal R.U.D.I. He was all a man could ever want in best friend. Rosie and R.U.D.I. could not be more different than the blood-thirsty bots of The Terminator and I, Robot. We trusted them in our homes, with our kids! But could it be possible that Hollywood’s contradictory depictions of our future robots highlight the two extremes of our very dissonant views on the impact of our increasingly intelligent technology today?
This month, International Business Times reports that, “The United States has gained 387,000 managers but lost almost 2 million clerical jobs since 2007, as new technologies replace office workers and further squeeze the American middle class.” Video rental stores are shuttering their doors thanks to the advent of Netflix and TiVo. Travel agents are getting their pink slips from Expedia. Telephone operators are being asked to shove over by accent-less voices on button operated machines. The New York Times even featured an article about how the once financially unassailable radiologists are being displaced by “teleradiology.”
We are in the midst of a technological revolution. We will never get the jobs that we lost back. We live in a “self-serve world.”
So, where’s the silver lining?
If history repeats itself, we should see “more work and greater wealth” after the dust has settled. The Model T put horseshoe makers and carriage drivers out of business. However, it opened up career opportunities as people were needed to build paved roads, bridges and highways, to collect tolls and hand out speeding tickets.
Similarly, some experts predict that we will eventually see more and new jobs as the technology we create require new skills and trained workers. But what is your take on the issue? Answer the poll below, and then tune in to One Hundred Pennies this Sunday at 12p.m. ET on AM970 The Answer for the results.
Special thanks to guest blogger, Kimberley Bainbridge.
Filed under: Corporate Social Responsibility, Economy, Events, job creation, Job Market, Michael S Robinson, Misc., News, News & Articles, world news
