Automation is a new era of technological advancement that is set to have a massive impact on the way many of us approach our work lives.
With modern machine learning coupled alongside physical machines, many millions are expected to be removed from the workplace and replaced by robots, which is expected to become especially prevalent within the fast food and transportation industry.
Robotic Automation
With the rise of robotic automation in the workplace, many have seen it as the end of their professional careers, while others are celebrating the moment the machines begin to take over and make life that much more convenient. We’re beginning to see it in the fast food industry, where servers are being replaced for automated systems that the customer interacts with directly.
And while there’s no denying that at least 5 million jobs may soon come to an end, many others will start to benefit from the automation. This is true in the medical world, where robotic assistants will be able to assist doctors in making diagnoses, as well as prescribing the correct medication automatically.
It may even spread to other industries, such as gaming or betting, where robots will automatically put down bets for horse racing, for example.
It’s Nothing New
We like to think that we’re the first civilisation in mankind’s history to begin making use of automated machines – mostly due to our advances in technology – but the idea has been around for a long time.
The ancient Greeks, for example, made use of complex mechanical devices that are believed to have existed in Hellenistic Greece. One of the best examples is the world’s first analogue computer: the Antikythera mechanism.
The World’s First Industrial Automation
In fact, automation has been a part of the modern world for a long time now, which is a fact that many people tend to disregard. Before the start of World War 2, most of what was produced was done by hand, and it meant having countless thousands employed in certain production industries.
This changed when automated machines were introduced and began the era of mass production, which saw raw materials being processed into a final product with very little human interaction.
This automation has seen the end to thousands of jobs over the last few decades, and has become the main method of how we get most of the products we see in stores today. Automation has been a concern for the last century; only this time round it may have the smallest impact yet.
Cost Reduction
Efficiency is the king of all production in the world, and businesses are trying their best to try and replace manual labour for automation simply due to the lower chances of fault as well as lowered costs.
This also coincides with a much more consistent quality overall as machines tend to make fewer mistakes than their human counterparts. And while we may see a few million lose their jobs over the next decade, overall consumers will be provided with higher quality goods that will cost less and break much more infrequently.