MSE 101w Persuasive Report
MSE 101w Persuasive Report
Draft 1
Title : Will technology replace human labor in the unpredictable future?
Student name: Nihas Nebaskhan
Student id: 301248217
Fall 2014
Introduction
With the increasing demand for more goods and services across the globe and the competitions among different countries to sustain economic growth are becoming more ambitious, the pattern of jobs over the decade have changed since its beginning and one of the major noticeable change is the implementation of technology alongside human labor. Integration of machines in production lines and, use of computers and robots in various other jobs has helped in increasing the production rate of goods and services and also helped the country …show more content…
boost its economic growth. Technology was introduced as a companion to human labor, to make jobs easier, less tedious and produce more output.
But the implementation of technology into jobs has grown drastically since the beginning. Technology has managed to replace various jobs of people and have rendered them obsolete. Jobs such as sowing, publishing companies etc. which once used to have a intensive human labor have been completely replaced by machinery. Will this trend continue to a point where technology takes over human labor in some jobs if not all? Or Will human labor be considered non replaceable? These thoughts have led me to my topic
"Will technology replace human labor in the unpredictable future?" I have chosen 'The employment standards branch' as my audience and throughout this persuasive essay, I will be trying to persuade them on whether or not technology can deplete jobs. I would also discuss the fact that does it pose a threat to the environment and the safety of human beings. Throughout the essay I would discuss a series of arguments and counter arguments that are possible to arise with this topic
Technology is Cost-effective + time …show more content…
efficient
Implementing machines would result in a much higher output that the work compared to humans. More workers means more output and the employer would have to pay wages for each employees. The more the employees, the more money the company would have to invest on human capital. This can be good if the business is aiming for a much higher produce but implementing machines would help them cut costs nearly by 1/3 since they can cut off a large amount of human labour and can focus on paying wages to very few employees who operate the machinery and maintain them. This is cost effective since the business is investing at a lower rate but still can expect much higher produce (i.e a single machine can match the output rate of more than hundreds of employees depending on the job).
This is time efficient since machines produce goods at a faster rate than human labour. Machines have a constant rate of production whereas humans cannot maintain a constant rate of production. Supposing it would take 10 minutes for a human to complete a certain task, machines could finish it at a much faster rate, say a minute. This would also allow room for a higher production rate.
Replacement of human labor is encouraged in situations that pose health hazards to humans
Presence of human labor has its limitations when it comes to certain aspects of a product's manufacturing process.
The limitations could have various reasons but most importantly to handle dangerous materials and to take care of hazardous processes. An example of this could be the use of robots in manufacturing cars. It would be dangerous for humans to carry out the coating process since the chemicals contained in the coating spray is poisonous to breathe in. Also robots can withstand high temperatures which is unsafe for humans to work in. An important aspect of any manufacturing process is the testing stage and using machines are sometimes the only way to complete a testing stage in some industries. Considering the car manufacturing industry, crash testing the cars is extremely dangerous for humans to perform. As it is important to ensure the safety of consumers, crash testing is a vital process and crash test dummies are used to achieve this. With improvements in technology, crash test dummies are evolving to nearly replicate human movements, recognize pain (using numerous sensors) and so on.
[citation] Another limitation would be that there are manufacturing processes that would not produce the desired output if there were to be direct human contact with the raw materials. Take for example the production of silicon wafers. The environment where the wafers are produced must be kept 100 percent dust free since even a single particle of dust can ruin the microcircuit of the wafer. Controlling dust and making sure that the wafers do not come in contact even with a single particle of dust can only be achieved by using machinery in the production process.
Value of human labor is greater than technology due to humans having an ability to think and react to unforeseen circumstances
Machines and computer robots can only be programmed to perform a certain task. They follow the algorithms but they are not capable of processing their own thoughts or in other words cannot make decisions. This is a problem because technology cannot handle or react to emergencies that might occur in the workplace which would in turn halt the production process . In situations like these, the presence of human labor is very important because humans can think critically and try and find the best alternative way to tackle a situation. No business/industrial organization would want a halt in their production status.
In order for a computer to think and make decisions, it should be able to make free choices. But since there are many aspects in a computer system that are predefined ( such as an AND gate [citation]) , computer technology is unable to make free choices.
Technology can replace repetitive and tedious jobs
No human would find it engaging to work on the same task over and over again. In fact it would lead to demotivation of the employees. A study [citation] shows that 48% of worldwide population find their job tedious, boring and therefore end up not liking them. Demotivation has severe effects on quality and quantity of the goods produced. Reduced production rate and drops in product quality can affect the business growth. So in order to tackle this problem, use of machines have a high priority. The issue of repetitive and tedious tasks can be seen from primary jobs such as agriculture all the way to mass production such as production of bottled drinks. The presence of human labor has been highest since the beginning of agriculture. Humans were/are involved in sowing, weeding, irrigation and so much more and all of these tasks are tedious to perform and would require more human labor to increase the output rate which would in turn increase the cost spent by the employer to hire more workers. In order for the employer to reduce costs and increase efficiency of the output, introduction of technology in farming seems to be the best choice. Over the years there has been a gradual increase in the involvement of machines in agriculture such as combine harvesters, tractors to plough etc.. They have managed to cut down hundreds of labors who used to sow the seeds, water them and harvest them to less than two or three labors whose primary job is to focus on operating the machinery and with technology advancing there can be a time when agriculture becomes fully automated. Fitting caps, sticking labels or filling bottles can be another example of how work can be repetitive which human's tend to refuse to work on. Industries which involve in production of bottled drinks have the exact same processes that repeats each time for every single bottle made. Since the industry has to produce more than millions each year and to keep up with the production speed it only makes sense to use machines to perform the above mentioned tasks.
Environmental implication: Growing e-waste due to the transient nature of the lifespan of a piece of technology
Computers and machinery once deployed into the work field cannot be used forever. Growth of technology is very high in the current world and technology becomes outdated quickly. This would require the businesses/industries which use technology alongside human labor to update its machinery in order to keep the business up to date. The outdated machines would have to be discarded which ends up as Electronic waste. Machines and computers used in businesses and industries are complex with over thousands of parts assembled together which include toxic wastes, plastics, acids etc. which pose a serious threat to the environment. The waste can affect food chains, natural habitats of both animals and plants etc. The main components that are present in a small scale machinery include Plastics, Lead, Cadmium, mercury and Hexavalent chromium which are present in batteries, framework of the machine, printed wiring boards etc. In addition to contaminating the environment, the components can cause damage to central nervous systems, kidneys, brains and induce chronic effects on plants and animals. It is also sometimes unsafe for workers to work with machinery. An example of this would be the various safety concerns that arise from Foxconn (manufacturing of apple products). [citation] Workers have faced serious injuries due to usage of toxic chemicals in machines and also lack of protective shield present on assembling machines.
Tailored Goods
There are cases where implementing technology into work would not be feasible. Businesses and industries focused on producing tailored goods would have to invest more money into technology than on human labor. Take for example a business focused on designing custom cakes. If they were to make 400 different cakes, it would be much more efficient and cost effective to employ humans rather than reprogramming machines each time to make a different cake which would lead to increased time in production. So the best cost and time effective way for a business when it comes to production of tailored goods is to opt for human labor.
Conclusion
If technology were to replace human labour, businesses can achieve faster rate of output for a reduced cost. This will increase their profit and also help them reach goods and services to the consumers quicker. But people would be left with no jobs. In my opinion, i believe that it is quite impossible for technology to replace human labour at the moment. It would take a long time until technology is capable of replacing human labor. [citation]. Technology must advance to a level where human like thinking is possible.
(more points to be added under conclusion)
Draft 1
Title : Will technology replace human labor in the unpredictable future?
Student name: Nihas Nebaskhan
Student id: 301248217
Fall 2014
Introduction
With the increasing demand for more goods and services across the globe and the competitions among different countries to sustain economic growth are becoming more ambitious, the pattern of jobs over the decade have changed since its beginning and one of the major noticeable change is the implementation of technology alongside human labor. Integration of machines in production lines and, use of computers and robots in various other jobs has helped in increasing the production rate of goods and services and also helped the country …show more content…
boost its economic growth. Technology was introduced as a companion to human labor, to make jobs easier, less tedious and produce more output.
But the implementation of technology into jobs has grown drastically since the beginning. Technology has managed to replace various jobs of people and have rendered them obsolete. Jobs such as sowing, publishing companies etc. which once used to have a intensive human labor have been completely replaced by machinery. Will this trend continue to a point where technology takes over human labor in some jobs if not all? Or Will human labor be considered non replaceable? These thoughts have led me to my topic
"Will technology replace human labor in the unpredictable future?" I have chosen 'The employment standards branch' as my audience and throughout this persuasive essay, I will be trying to persuade them on whether or not technology can deplete jobs. I would also discuss the fact that does it pose a threat to the environment and the safety of human beings. Throughout the essay I would discuss a series of arguments and counter arguments that are possible to arise with this topic
Technology is Cost-effective + time …show more content…
efficient
Implementing machines would result in a much higher output that the work compared to humans. More workers means more output and the employer would have to pay wages for each employees. The more the employees, the more money the company would have to invest on human capital. This can be good if the business is aiming for a much higher produce but implementing machines would help them cut costs nearly by 1/3 since they can cut off a large amount of human labour and can focus on paying wages to very few employees who operate the machinery and maintain them. This is cost effective since the business is investing at a lower rate but still can expect much higher produce (i.e a single machine can match the output rate of more than hundreds of employees depending on the job).
This is time efficient since machines produce goods at a faster rate than human labour. Machines have a constant rate of production whereas humans cannot maintain a constant rate of production. Supposing it would take 10 minutes for a human to complete a certain task, machines could finish it at a much faster rate, say a minute. This would also allow room for a higher production rate.
Replacement of human labor is encouraged in situations that pose health hazards to humans
Presence of human labor has its limitations when it comes to certain aspects of a product's manufacturing process.
The limitations could have various reasons but most importantly to handle dangerous materials and to take care of hazardous processes. An example of this could be the use of robots in manufacturing cars. It would be dangerous for humans to carry out the coating process since the chemicals contained in the coating spray is poisonous to breathe in. Also robots can withstand high temperatures which is unsafe for humans to work in. An important aspect of any manufacturing process is the testing stage and using machines are sometimes the only way to complete a testing stage in some industries. Considering the car manufacturing industry, crash testing the cars is extremely dangerous for humans to perform. As it is important to ensure the safety of consumers, crash testing is a vital process and crash test dummies are used to achieve this. With improvements in technology, crash test dummies are evolving to nearly replicate human movements, recognize pain (using numerous sensors) and so on.
[citation] Another limitation would be that there are manufacturing processes that would not produce the desired output if there were to be direct human contact with the raw materials. Take for example the production of silicon wafers. The environment where the wafers are produced must be kept 100 percent dust free since even a single particle of dust can ruin the microcircuit of the wafer. Controlling dust and making sure that the wafers do not come in contact even with a single particle of dust can only be achieved by using machinery in the production process.
Value of human labor is greater than technology due to humans having an ability to think and react to unforeseen circumstances
Machines and computer robots can only be programmed to perform a certain task. They follow the algorithms but they are not capable of processing their own thoughts or in other words cannot make decisions. This is a problem because technology cannot handle or react to emergencies that might occur in the workplace which would in turn halt the production process . In situations like these, the presence of human labor is very important because humans can think critically and try and find the best alternative way to tackle a situation. No business/industrial organization would want a halt in their production status.
In order for a computer to think and make decisions, it should be able to make free choices. But since there are many aspects in a computer system that are predefined ( such as an AND gate [citation]) , computer technology is unable to make free choices.
Technology can replace repetitive and tedious jobs
No human would find it engaging to work on the same task over and over again. In fact it would lead to demotivation of the employees. A study [citation] shows that 48% of worldwide population find their job tedious, boring and therefore end up not liking them. Demotivation has severe effects on quality and quantity of the goods produced. Reduced production rate and drops in product quality can affect the business growth. So in order to tackle this problem, use of machines have a high priority. The issue of repetitive and tedious tasks can be seen from primary jobs such as agriculture all the way to mass production such as production of bottled drinks. The presence of human labor has been highest since the beginning of agriculture. Humans were/are involved in sowing, weeding, irrigation and so much more and all of these tasks are tedious to perform and would require more human labor to increase the output rate which would in turn increase the cost spent by the employer to hire more workers. In order for the employer to reduce costs and increase efficiency of the output, introduction of technology in farming seems to be the best choice. Over the years there has been a gradual increase in the involvement of machines in agriculture such as combine harvesters, tractors to plough etc.. They have managed to cut down hundreds of labors who used to sow the seeds, water them and harvest them to less than two or three labors whose primary job is to focus on operating the machinery and with technology advancing there can be a time when agriculture becomes fully automated. Fitting caps, sticking labels or filling bottles can be another example of how work can be repetitive which human's tend to refuse to work on. Industries which involve in production of bottled drinks have the exact same processes that repeats each time for every single bottle made. Since the industry has to produce more than millions each year and to keep up with the production speed it only makes sense to use machines to perform the above mentioned tasks.
Environmental implication: Growing e-waste due to the transient nature of the lifespan of a piece of technology
Computers and machinery once deployed into the work field cannot be used forever. Growth of technology is very high in the current world and technology becomes outdated quickly. This would require the businesses/industries which use technology alongside human labor to update its machinery in order to keep the business up to date. The outdated machines would have to be discarded which ends up as Electronic waste. Machines and computers used in businesses and industries are complex with over thousands of parts assembled together which include toxic wastes, plastics, acids etc. which pose a serious threat to the environment. The waste can affect food chains, natural habitats of both animals and plants etc. The main components that are present in a small scale machinery include Plastics, Lead, Cadmium, mercury and Hexavalent chromium which are present in batteries, framework of the machine, printed wiring boards etc. In addition to contaminating the environment, the components can cause damage to central nervous systems, kidneys, brains and induce chronic effects on plants and animals. It is also sometimes unsafe for workers to work with machinery. An example of this would be the various safety concerns that arise from Foxconn (manufacturing of apple products). [citation] Workers have faced serious injuries due to usage of toxic chemicals in machines and also lack of protective shield present on assembling machines.
Tailored Goods
There are cases where implementing technology into work would not be feasible. Businesses and industries focused on producing tailored goods would have to invest more money into technology than on human labor. Take for example a business focused on designing custom cakes. If they were to make 400 different cakes, it would be much more efficient and cost effective to employ humans rather than reprogramming machines each time to make a different cake which would lead to increased time in production. So the best cost and time effective way for a business when it comes to production of tailored goods is to opt for human labor.
Conclusion
If technology were to replace human labour, businesses can achieve faster rate of output for a reduced cost. This will increase their profit and also help them reach goods and services to the consumers quicker. But people would be left with no jobs. In my opinion, i believe that it is quite impossible for technology to replace human labour at the moment. It would take a long time until technology is capable of replacing human labor. [citation]. Technology must advance to a level where human like thinking is possible.
(more points to be added under conclusion)