Technology And The Downfall Of The Workplace

The past hundred or so years have seen technology and machinery evolve in unimaginable measures. Today, almost everything from the way we use our leisure time and how we shop to how we communicate with each other are dominated by technology.



You can be pushed to go far without encountering a way by which machine has replaced man. Numerous everyday tasks such as paying in the grocery store or buying tickets for the movie theatre can now be easily completed without any contact with a human worker. But is this always a good thing? What will afflict the human race if the need for us to work is diminished? Or is this an outlandish prediction that is unlikely to actually materialise?



Machines are now so broadly evident within the corporate world mainly due to economics. Generally if the installment and operation of a machine costs less than the comparative human will be to employ, it makes economical sense for a company to choose machine over man.



Though does it have an effect on our everyday life when we are confronted with a machine, as opposed to a person's face? Human connection is really important, more so than we likely realise. Although it may seem trivial to say hello and goodbye to the till assistant in the supermarket, pleasantries actually have a vital positive effect on our moods. These types of connections are even more important to certain people in society. In particular, the elderly may benefit considerably from a pleasant chat with a shop employee, since they might not have people with which to chat when at home. This minor human connection is crucial to them. In addition, the use of today's technology can be a frightening task to our elders, and they can experience phenomenal difficulties in the operation of machines like self service tills. With this in mind, it is clear that advanced machinery will never be suitable for every individual, which means that a human employee will always have to be accessible to assist.



There are alternative working environments however, where machinery is taking over from human hands and thriving. Warehouses and factories are singing the praises of SCADA, a process monitoring system. SCADA is a system of sensors that can manage equipment, collect data, and deliver it to a core computer system. The system can remove the potential for human mistakes, making sure that machinery runs as efficiently and smoothly as possible. In the case of SCADA, it could be argued that this is a vital addition to many workplaces. Even though it makes the requirement for certain workers obsolete, the system is not marred by issues related to consumer interaction, and can actually make a workplace substantially less hazardous as there is no room for human errors.



But how will the world be impacted if machines should advance to such levels that the need for a human workforce is nearly eradicated? What we frequently dont appreciate is that work is a necessary component of a happy and functional life. While we are employed, our lives have got a purpose. In order to live each day, people need to feel they have a purpose. If machines were to remove the necessity for us to work, what then would become of humanity? Many prophetic examples of this scenario are visible in the media channels. Recently the animated film Wall-e, imagined a heavily obese race of humans using hovering chairs to move about, dwelling in a life of little, if any, true purpose. While this is an extreme scenario, the frightful thing is the fact that there is no way we can really know what is actually achievable, and what the future will bring.



Machines have, and will continue to evolve considerably faster than man ever can. In some cases this is good for business, but bad for the consumer. However in others, such as the use of SCADA, it is in lots of ways a good thing.



However, with all this in view, maybe we should allow the machines to evolve (as how are we to stop them?), and man must merely be careful about how we advance and modify around the technology. At the end of the day, we still have the real control - there'll always be an off switch.