Many people believe that technology helps the world becomes a better place to live. Since the invention of hunting tools in the Paleolithic Age, technology has also evolved along with us humans. Today, ordinary people use smart apps while developers use application performance management. We can now manage almost everything through apps.
On the other hand, it seems that technology is not really for all. It looks as though it is created only for the interest of a few people. Our society is divided into two main camps being the wealthy and the underclass.
Wealthy people usually are owners of large companies and asset holdings while the underclass is comprised of workers, tradesmen, and the unemployed whom the wealthy call the reserved workforce.
How Can Technology Cause Inequality?
When we talk about inequality, we refer to the growing number of people who become impoverished as a result of unemployment. Unfortunately, technology can contribute to such inequality by means of automation. Although the threat about automation has been around since the industrial revolution, it has almost been forgotten because automation hasn’t actually taken place yet.
However, the information age seems to fulfill such threats as automation is now becoming a reality. The use of artificial intelligence and the growing popularity of the internet of things (IoT) are examples of how automation is happening now.
Today, employers use AI to free their recruitment personnel from the daunting tasks of selecting job applications. Live chat support agents are now being replaced by chatbots. Even cab drivers have something to be afraid of because of the growing popularity of self-driving cars initiated by Google Car.
In the past, workers were afraid to be replaced by machines. What happened was that production machines ended up requiring more people to work them; however, these days, even machines can be replaced by AI and IoT technology. This means that the real threat of automation is stronger today than ever before.
Since many companies have started replacing manual tasks with productivity apps, many conventional jobs are no longer in demand. These days, more and more business activities are going to autopilot. As a result, many people are losing jobs, and it’s difficult to find one; therefore, poverty is now a major concern.
Is There a Way Technology Can Promote Employment Instead?
Technology, on the other hand, offers a lot of possibilities. If technology can possibly eliminate traditional jobs, it can also possibly create new ones. Technology has eliminated many secretarial jobs only to find out it’s creating more virtual assistant jobs.
In other words, there is a possibility that automation would offer more opportunities that what we could expect. Today, there are a lot of jobs that were unimaginable a century ago when automation became a threat.
Examples of these jobs are IT developers, SEO specialists, social media managers, and email marketers. These jobs didn’t exist before, and because of technology, they now provide means for many people to survive.
It’s easy to see the negative side of the coin, but it’s difficult to figure out the positive end; nevertheless, technology will bring us a lot of things far beyond our imagination now. Technology will create more jobs which we still don’t know today. Let’s not forget that tech companies like Google, and Apple employ a lot of people because of technological changes.
Final Thoughts
It’s true that automation aims at eliminating manual jobs, and this will push many people away from work. However, the impact of automation to the unemployment rate is not that significant yet, so there is a need study it thoroughly before you could give a definite verdict.
