Technology Cannot Replace Manpower | HPSC Preparation: All subjects - HPSC (Haryana) PDF Download

Science-Technology

The evolution of technology has been spectacular in the last few decades. Human scientific curiosity is at an all-time high. Discussions about the space race, driverless cars, and Artificial Intelligence are commonplace. Machines have greatly reduced human interference in industries. Jobs in manufacturing industries that do not require intelligence and decision-making are being replaced by robots at an unprecedented pace. Industries believe this will save them money in the long run amidst rising labour costs and rising awareness against unethical labour practices in the developing countries.

Are Machines Capable of doing Tasks Themselves?

Despite the significant progress made by technology in the last few years, machines require humans to feed them the necessary instructions even today. Machines cannot make decisions by themselves. They need to be programmed to react in a certain manner in case of unforeseen circumstances, without which they will malfunction. In many cases, it is required by law for a human to be present to take over the functioning of a machine in case of emergencies. Emergencies seldom happen. But it’s not about the situation; it’s about responsibility. The human race as a whole is not secure in the capability of its own inventions.
Questions like who is responsible if a driverless car causes an accident? Who is responsible if a subway train suddenly malfunctions? Machines are designed to react in case of many emergency-like situations. It is programmed for a whole lot of conditions. But the fear remains - what if a situation arises that is unlike any other? Humans can make an informed decision by careful calculation or even by instinct, but machines lack this intelligence. Then how can we think that technology will completely replace manpower?
Proponents of new technologies advocate that they are developing increasingly better programs to deal with these situations with the help of AI and Machine Learning. However, here comes the most crucial part. It is humans who are doing development. Cars are not making themselves driverless; it is humans who are making them driverless.

What Humans have that Machines Don’t?

Right from discovering fire and wheel to the smartphones, all has been done by humans. That’s because humans have the abilities that can never be ‘installed in a machine, which are creativity, inspiration, and desire to grow. For example, humans have the ability to identify a problem, sit, think and come up with a solution. In addition, humans have the ability to be analytical and logical.

The fear is Legitimate.

Whether technology will replace humans is an important one, especially in countries like India, which has a huge labour workforce. It is natural to be afraid when every other industry leader talks about more automation, and they see people losing jobs to machines. Workers know that machines have an advantage over them when it comes to precision and endurance. A human can work for 8-10 hours of physical labour in a day. A machine can do that for 24 hours every day. A human’s work is prone to errors. A machine’s work isn’t. With machines, every action is precise.

Change in the Social Fabric throughout History

During the first industrial revolution, agricultural workers were being replaced by machines powered by steam engines. Workers were afraid they are going to lose their jobs. Which they even did. But the Industrial Revolution's growth gave rise to another type of work - work in the factory. It was different from working in fields and required learning new skills. It resulted in some great changes in the social fabric of society at that time.
As the industrial revolution flourished, people moved towards clusters of factories, and settlements became cities. People started living in smaller families as opposed to joint agricultural families. Children spent more time with their mothers and less with their fathers. People found new jobs in new sectors because even machines needed humans to operate them.
Similar changes happened when electricity was discovered. The steam engine became obsolete. Workers had to either learn new technology or lose out. Again in the age of electronics, skilled labour learned to assemble complex electronic parts. This learning symbolised economic prosperity in China and other south-east Asian countries in the form of their huge electronics and manufacturing industry.

Status Quo

India has a huge youth population. Unfortunately, not all of them are skilled enough to work in jobs that require critical thinking and decision making abilities. Most of the youth today, especially in villages and towns, work as skilled and unskilled workers in manufacturing industries and various other sectors. Amidst fears of economic slowdown, companies cannot be blamed for automating their processes that require fewer labourers to cut costs. But if all companies start doing this, most of the labour will remain unemployed. Do industries have any obligation towards the workers? Is it wrong to think about profits when the industries are themselves fighting for their own existence? It is observed that answers are not always simple.

A Reminder

In all these eras of transformation, one fact stands out, i.e., new technologies still required human intervention in either creating them or operating them. Advocates of new technologies understand the concerns of the masses. Nobody denies that changes won’t happen.The shift to new technologies will not be easy, but one must remember that this is nothing the human race has not done before.

Opportunities in the Future

New technologies will require a workforce, but of a different kind. Industries require programmers to create devices and undertake research. Software is constantly upgrading. There is a huge demand for talent in engineering in sectors like machine learning and the Internet of Things. The space race is picking pace with huge stalwarts like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos already in fierce competition with their respective entities SpaceX and Blue Origin. There is great innovation happening in microbiology, nanotechnology, and clean energy. Climate change is going to change the face of many industries in the coming years.
We are facing many challenges. These will require a huge workforce and everyone to work together in a team. There is a huge demand for workers. It’s true that many sectors need fewer workers, but there are other new and upcoming sectors that are going to need more workers. We have to be quick to adapt to a new course of action. No matter how advanced technology gets, we should remember that it is us humans who created them, and machines and humans will have a symbiotic relationship, and both will remain a part of the ecosystem.