With hyper-automation as a raising subject in the market, the question of manual work conducted by humans is up for reflection. We all know that autonomous cars are there. We can go to the self-checkout store and it also won’t be a surprise to buy groceries without the cashier asking us whether we want to pay by cash or card. We can just agree that automation has been revolutionizing every aspect of our daily and professional life for several years. However, can humans be replaced by robots fully?
With the current state of artificial intelligence, we can boldly admit that right now there is no such possibility. Therefore, we can happily live without the worry of being useless as the world still needs our manual work and intellect. However, according to Forbes, in the next 5 years, we can expect some shifts in the job market as there are several technological advancements in the scope of automation.
The first area of change will be definitely efficiency. Compared to the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) technology, humans without a doubt underperform even using their main professional commodity which is knowledge. Computational power allows for performing numerous business-critical processes in no time with a drastic limitation of FTEs costs. This leaves humans to advance more in aspects such as complex tasks, soft skills, and leveraging their creativity. There will be also space for human intervention in the scope of business strategic activities such as building partnerships and communicating with external clients. The main reason for that is that we are in the end still people who appreciate the connections and spontaneity which cannot be provided by cold-hearted machines.
Secondly, some of the jobs will cease to exist or will be drastically revolutionized. As the first example, we can look into shops where human resources are slowly being cut down as almost every aspect of them can be automated. As mentioned previously, we can have self-checkouts; with autonomous cleaning machines, there is no need for cleaning services, in addition to, filling up the shelves which can also be performed without human intervention. This reflection can go even beyond brick-and-mortar shops as the rise of e-commerce displaces them from the market. The same story can be spotted in the automotive industry with the possibility in the future of replacing drivers with artificial intelligence.
With many other examples, such as simple customer service, manufacturing, or accounting, we can all agree that alongside its joys, there exists a dark side to automation. The light side provides help to humans and relieves them from performing mundane, repetitive tasks, whereas the dark side demands continuous human resource upskill and slowly replaces the blue-collar work schemes.
References:
- Kuczkowski, Brief robotowy, https://kuczkowski.co/brief_robotowy-69/
- Forbes, 10 ways automation might affect job markets in the near future, https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2022/02/24/10-ways-automation-might-affect-job-markets-in-the-near-future/?sh=38bfe859302
- Forbes, 15 jobs and tasks tech experts believe will be automated within a decade, https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2022/02/18/15-jobs-and-tasks-tech-experts-believe-will-be-automated-within-a-decade/?sh=7f26e2e4778a