Transformative Effects of Automation to the Economy - Essay Example

June 20, 2016

Transformative Effects of Automation to the Economy

Abstract

This work covers some of the changes that have been brought by automation. It shows in detail how these changes affect consumption in the contemporary world. It also shows how technology advancement has brought changes to personal income of different people. Some of the changes that automation and technological progress has drawn to education and changes to labor have been discussed. This research paper also has a clear overview of how social interaction is affected by automation. In the end, an assessment of how economic policy deals with some of these changes.

Introduction

Technology has changed the way people do various activities today. Technology is the application of scientific knowledge in industries for practical purposes. Technology has advanced in years and keeps advancing as time goes. According to Derek Thompson (2015), Youngstown steel mills had a history of prosperity. After the Second World War, manufacturing shifted abroad, and people suffered in the city due to lack of jobs. Henceforth, there were a lot of crimes in the city that even led to opening up of four prisons in the city. There are so many things that come up with automation. Most people always get a positive perspective of automation but lack to know cases of adverse effects of automation. Such cases include loss of jobs and the other negative consequences like increase in crimes that go along with it. Shifting of manufacturing of steel from Youngstown changed the town not only in an economical way but also affected the people culturally and socially. There are also many transformative effects of automation.

Changes to personal income

Many Americans are worried that the increased automation and advanced technology will reduce the need for human labor. However, this might not be the case. Automation may displace some people from their jobs but only particular jobs. People are now moving with the technology pace and hence moving to more technologically advanced and related jobs (Betancourt 2014). The more technology advances, the more people are moving to non-routine jobs such as online marketing and others. For this reason, it goes without a saying that technology affects employees negatively but only employees working in routine jobs. It is a fact that technology reduces demand for certain jobs but at the same time increases human labor demand for certain jobs.

Over an extended period, approximately two hundred years, advancements in technology have led to a greater increase in wages. However, it has been a source of heated debate with some arguing that technology has resulted to widening the inequality gap between different individuals in the world. Throughout history, technological advancement was usually accompanied by stagnant wages and economic inequality. This was back during the Industrial Revolution in the early nineteenth century and during the age of electrification that also came during the nineteenth century (Vimmerstedt 2014). However, after some decades passed, workers started seeing changes in their wages in a positive way. This means that people had already begun to witness the real effects of technology.

Many institutions in the United States are taking the responsibility to make students more advanced technologically. It might turn out that technology may be the principal means of generating income in the future. Most jobs today are technologically based, and people with knowledge about how to perform certain tasks through embracing technology are the luckiest ones. That is the reason why some argue that there is an economic inequality since people who are more advanced on how to handle machines are the ones receiving high wages compared to those without the required knowledge. Information technology has changed how things are done in the world. Most people are now discovering how white-color jobs are tiresome, boring, and time-consuming compared to working over the internet. For this reason, people are now shifting from routine jobs to non-routine ones. From the above research, it is true to say that automation has increased wages for individuals with the knowledge of how to use various machines as well as those with the knowledge of working with computers.

Changes to labor

Effects of technological advancements have been noticeable since the 1800s when the steam engine was invented. The improvements have led to fear of loss of both blue-color and white-color jobs because computers are now capable of doing all these jobs. The manual labor has now been replaced by computers. For instance, people are now capable of monitoring security of any place from a computer rather than employing security guards to do the same. This has lowered the amount of money spent on paying these guards since it now requires one or two personnel to monitor cameras from a computer and see all the security threats (Hanley 2014). Therefore security has become tighter and effective. Several security guards have lost their jobs but on the other hand, automation has created jobs to many people who are equipped with technology skills.

For the past decades, people have kept in mind that to earn money you have to do manual work in industries. It has been changed by the great advancement in technology and automation. Most teachers and professors who spend most of their time in classes are now at the risk of losing their jobs if they do not embrace technology. Distant learning has been made easier through the use of computer networks and making use of the internet. Technology advancement has enabled many students to stay in their home and still continue with their learning without even missing a lesson. One of the main advantages of this kind of learning is that there will be minimal money spent on the cost of fuel. In addition, when fuel consumption and traveling costs are reduced, air pollution will reduce and at the same time traffic congestion will be a history in the United States. However, there is a drawback due to the same. Online learning will lack practical knowledge required for most jobs. People will not be able to work as per requirements of most companies since they will not have the right skills for the jobs.

Moreover, since people have the habit of depending on machines in almost every aspect of their lives, it turns out that people all over the world are getting so lazy. It is speculated that in about ten years to come, most labor work will be done by machines. Though people might get lazy to do most of the manual work, it does not mean that technology should be done away with. Most manual work is tiresome and time-consuming. Embracing technology will save most of the time spent on such jobs and hence increase revenue generation. For this reason, we should always make technology advancement a good tool for success in businesses as well as advance in economic success in the whole world.

Changes to consumption

Excessive consumption affects the economy negatively. Neither does it improve humanity nor does in improve the economy. Excessive consumption also affects health when fats accumulate so much in the body. Automation has affected consumption in various ways. First and foremost, automation has made people do less traveling especially those who work from homes. For this reason, these people normally find themselves consuming a lot since they have less work to do. In an industry where people are doing much more of labor work, there is less work spent on eating. This is because most of the manual labor requires a lot of keen concentration.

Consumption, however, is not only on food, but automation has affected consumption in other forms of energy. Automation has affected fuel consumption in the sense some cars are now made to use electricity. A good example is an electric train that saves on fuel consumption. In the recent years, several automakers are producing vehicles that save fuel through making vehicles that are capable of driving themselves. This technology has assisted people in saving a lot of money spent on hiring drivers as well as time spent in driving the vehicles (Sučić 2016). Increased automation has led to the increase of more fuel-efficient vehicles and hence saving on fuel consumption. Most automatic cars can control acceleration automatically and hence save on fuel. In addition, vehicle-to-vehicle communication, which is a technique that is mostly applied to vehicles that move so close to one another, is also a good way of saving fuel.

Most energy saving equipments are now being used to produce electricity. The Wind has now been one of the cheapest means of producing electricity. It is now used in many industries in the United States rather than using hydraulic electricity. This advancement on how to capture the wind and use it to produce electricity has been great save for many industries who use electricity in almost all activities. Biogas is also another means that is being used in many homes to save on fuel consumption. Biogas is cheap to make compared to other means of cooking such as the use of kerosene. Having a few cattle in a homestead can make a significant change through saving on fuel. Automation has brought changes in the equipment that is being produced nowadays. Lighting systems that are being installed in homesteads use the concept of dimming light to save on energy. These light bulbs are said to save at least 10 percent of energy compared to the other types of bulbs. Moreover, other home appliances such as televisions, computers, and microwaves are made according to the current technology that aims at reducing energy consumption as possible.

Changes to education

Automation has brought so many changes to education. As said earlier, many students are now embracing technological advances in taking their lessons. Many institutions all over the world are now making their education more advanced through using recent technology. According to Collins (2016).There are many advantages attached to technology advancement in the education center. During the colonial period when writing materials were inadequate, people used to use feathers and ink to write. It took writers too much time to write a book. It also consumed a lot of ink. Through automation, pens that consumed less ink were introduced. Despite the fact that pens save on ink, they also save a lot of time used to write materials. Now pens have been made to produce less friction hence making them swifter during the writing process. Books have also been a good example of automation from the materials that were being used many decades ago. During the Stone Age period when there were no writing materials people still used stones to write and draw. We see a great advancement that technology has brought since then.

The age of computers has also brought so many changes to the education system. Computers are now being used to conduct learning from any place in the world. Digital libraries have reduced traveling and students can access any book they want from the comfort of their homes (Collins 2016). Digital libraries have also enabled students to access articles and journals online easier without having to travel to the school library. The good thing about digital libraries is the fact that it eliminates problems with many students demanding the same book in the library hence students use the books only for a limited time. Borrowing books from certain libraries require that the student incurs some charge, but it is cheap to access a book from the digital library any time and for no cost.

Despite all the advantages that have come along with advancement in technology in the education sector, creation of virtual schools has posed a big threat to many teachers who now fear losing their jobs. The use of computers and their integration has decreased the direct interaction between students and teachers and the interaction between students with other students. For this reason, it becomes so challenging for most students when they apply for jobs but when called for interviews are unable to meet the requirements. Also, most students believe that online courses require less time and commitment. Sometimes this is not always the case, to pursue in any course; one has to spend time revising. Many students just relax and waste a lot of time rather than spend it studying. We can conclude that technology has brought many benefits to education, but it is important to be aware of its negative effects and find ways of doing away with them.

Changes to social interaction

Automation has brought many changes to how people communicate. People all over the world are now using devices such as mobile phones and computers to communicate. This has affected their social lives in both negative and positive ways. Many social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have been put in place for people to air their ideas. In the olden days when no mobile phones were used for communication, massagers were used to delivering messages. These were just people who used to pass information from one place to another through a word of mouth. It, therefore, goes without saying that there was a lot of social interaction among the people then (Trainor 2014). These methods of communication were very slow and inconvenient. In many cases especially if the messagers were to travel long distances, the message did not reach its desired destination since some were killed on the way. Furthermore, this method was not convenient because at times the massagers could pass the wrong information rather than the intended one.

Technology advancements and great automation have brought a lot of changes in interaction. Social media platforms have reduced direct interaction between people, and now people make friendships without having to meet. These advancements in technology however, have brought a lot of social interaction over the internet. People are now making friends from people all over the world. Technology has also made people who never knew each other friends to an extent of making them end in marriage. Theerefoe, it is clear that automation has led to great interaction over the internet. Technology has brought an interconnection between different people regardless of their ethnicity or race. This means that automation has helped strengthen the relationship bonds of different people.

Automation, on the other hand, has reduced social interaction in many industries. Most industries that have embraced automation and technological advancements are now interacting with machines most of the time and very little time is spent for human to human interaction. People in most industries now work with machines contrary to the olden times when people interacted with people in doing most of their work. A good example is a steel manufacturing industry where men used to interact in all their activities. When machines came into practice, many people lose their jobs, and the people in the steel industries were left to interact with machines. This, therefore, reduced social interaction between people. We can conclude that automation reduces social interaction and on the other hand helps increase social interaction through social media.

Conclusion

The government has been very keen on applying laws to ensure that there is equality in the labor market. Economic policy through the government has played a major role in ensuring that all the laws are followed in conducting business. The government is ensuring that its long arm reaches those that do not have physical premises for their businesses. Most people are now working on online platform. Consequently the government has to ensure that all these people are taxed to raise revenue for the government. Nevertheless, the government has not done any change as far as the social interaction is concerned.

Betancourt, M. (2015). Labor/Commodity/Automation. CTheory, 9-15.

Collins, H., Glover, H., Myers, F., & Watson, M. (2016). Automation in distance learning: an empirical study of unlearning and academic identity change linked to automation of student messaging within distance learning.

Hanley, C. (2014). Putting the Bias in Skill-Biased Technological Change? A Relational Perspective on White-Collar Automation at General Electric. American Behavioral Scientist, 58(3), 400-415.