Introduction
Robotic technologies develop every day with an increasing pace. In machine industries, robots have been used for decades. However, their capabilities surpass the needs of an assembly line. Nowadays, mechanic laborers can take jobs in any professional sphere. People use robots in agriculture, building, packaging, medicine, and food production. There are even mechanical singers and musicians. Technologies get cheaper every day what leads to the wide spread of robots. Company owners are willing to let robots do the job because mechanical laborers do not ask for salaries and never get tired. According to the recent evaluations, robots can replace around 35% of human jobs. The purpose of this study is to analyze the role of robots on the labor market, their influence on the employment rates and economy, and explore possible cooperation of robots and humans.
Jobs for Robots
The lack of human resources in the middle of the 20th century and the development of industrial technologies led to the appearance of robots. People used mechanical laborers on assembly lines and in work with potentially dangerous objects. Siciliano and Hatib claim that “the early robots built in the 1960s stemmed from the confluence of two technologies: numerical control machines for precise manufacturing, and teleoperators for remote radioactive material handling (2). Since then, robots developed on a daily basis to penetrate every sphere of human activity. Nowadays, people use mechanical laborers not only in the industries, but also in various other spheres. Robots help to grow fruits and vegetables, milk cows, construct houses, make surgery, cook meals, prepare items for shipping, and explore the world.
Advantages of Robots
The advantages of mechanical laborers are widely known among the employers. Owners of big and small companies use robots because they ask only for regular maintenance. A mechanical laborer will not demand monthly salary and extra holidays. Industrial robots can work twenty-four hours seven days in a week. Due to the latest designs, they rarely make mistakes with correct setup and settings. It is easy to discern and eliminate the reasons for failure in the work of robots. Robots can work in the chemical industry, dealing easily with dangerous toxins. It is possible to reassign a robot for a different purpose, rebuild, and enhance it in short time.
Robots are Silent Workers
The efficiency of human work depends on the multitude of factors. Mechanical laborers decrease this number to a short range of conditions. They do not get bored on their places and do not try to entertain themselves in their working hours. Robots do not suffer from psychological stress due to the routine manual activities. They never fall in love, feel sorrow, or arrive at work drunk. Some robots never actually leave their work and do not complain about that. They do not need a change in their surroundings to refill their energy. Robots do not complain about their work conditions but can always show what hinders their productivity. Mechanical laborers do not search for other job opportunities and do not ask their employers for promotion. In fact, they just silently do what they are programmed to do.
Robots on Labor Market
According to the recent report by Deloitte, “around one-third of jobs in the UK are at “high risk” of being displaced by automation over the next two decades” (Armellini and Pike). Robots have been doing blue-collar work for decades. They assemble cars, carry heavy loads, mix chemicals, and collect samples of materials. Their work has become much more sophisticated with the development of new technologies. Nowadays, the artificial intellect allows them to do highly sophisticated tasks. Robots can work days and nights without pauses for sleep and rest. People working in companies cannot beat their pace. Mechanical workers do not need long education to achieve good results. Young specialists cannot acquire job experience because they are less skilled (Kernaghan 486).
Robots and Economy
The prices on robots capable of simple manual tasks are falling steadily. This situation can lead to the automatization of the whole industries. In the nearest future people will be able to purchase goods on virtual market platforms and receive them from robotized delivery system. The sorting departments can also be fully automatized. Due to the use of robots, the daily workload is rising steadily, pushing small enterprises without robots to work extra hours. This inevitably leads to the financial domination of big corporations over other representatives of the industry. People will need to buy robots only to start their businesses. The automatization of particular industries will lead to great rates of unemployment and support income inequality in the society (Acemoglu and Restrepo). The owners of robots will earn a lot of money while others will fight for jobs.
Robots and Humans
People cannot deny the positive impact of robots in many spheres of life. Modern technologies make it possible to save patients with serious tumors. Medical robots can assist doctors and perform surgery. Shah et al. claim that “robots offer stability, accuracy, integration with modern imaging technology, greater range of motion, and telesurgery” (12). The capabilities of artificial intellect make business communication as fast as possible. Some offices already use virtual assistants that can read and answer emails (West 1). Robots help scientists in collecting samples and exploring dangerous places around the globe.
Conclusion
The developing technologies allow robots to penetrate any sphere of human existence. Mechanical laborers and virtual assistants change the life of people completely. Fast automatization leads to the extinction of whole industries and huge rates of unemployment. Companies with robots dominate in their spheres. Nevertheless, a wise implementation of robotization ascertains better life for the society as a whole.
Works Cited
Acemoglu, Daron, and Pascual Restrepo. “Robots and Jobs: Evidence from US Labor Markets.” SSRN. Web.
Armellini Mauricio, and Tim Pike. “Robot Revolution: The Economics of Automation.” Welforum. Web.
Kernaghan, Kenneth. “The Rights and Wrongs of Robotics: Ethics and Robots in Public Organizations.” Canadian Public Administration, vol. 57, no. 4, 2014, pp. 485-506.
Shah, Jay, et al.. “The History of Robotics in Surgical Specialties.” American Journal of Robotic Surgery, vol.1, no.1, 2014, pp. 12-20.
Siciliano, Bruno, and Oussama Khatib, editors. Springer Handbook of Robotics. Springer, 2016.
West, Darrell M. What Happens if Robots Take the Jobs? The Impact of Emerging Technologies on Employment and Public Policy. Centre for Technology Innovation at Brookings, 2015.