The Rise Of Robots, A Threat To Human Employment And Interaction?

With an increase in the use of messenger bots to handle customer service and self-service checkouts in stores and supermarkets, more and more unskilled people are losing out on their jobs to artificial intelligence and automation.

Although there have been debates that artificial intelligence cannot totally take the place of human effort in workplaces, it appears that robotics and AI are actually standing as a threat. The Centre for Cities in England estimates that by 2030, a handful of employees would lose their jobs to robots. Shop and supermarket attendants and customer service agents are more at risk.

Many online stores employ the service of a messaging bot to attend to customers 24/7- no need to worry about monthly payments, stipends, and holiday breaks. Here in Nigeria, Jumia and UBA have both employed the service of a messaging bot via Facebook messenger which will attend to all inquiries of their customers all round the clock.

With a global increasing population, the UK government has resorted to creating a scheme that would help secure the future. While a lot of people agree that globalization and automation have the potential to bring great opportunities to increase jobs, it also involves a huge risk that many people will lose out in a fast-growing world dominated by artificial intelligence.

Expressing a great concern towards the citizens of Scotland, Andrew Carter, the Chief Executive for Centre for Cities said that the government needs to prepare for the future ahead such that the people can in the benefits of a fast-paced environment and this would include “reforming the education system to give young people the cognitive and interpersonal skills they need to thrive in the future, and improving school standards, especially in places where jobs are most at risk”.

Moreover, he suggested further that adults and the working class should also be flexible enough to adapt to the changing labour market, so they are not totally insignificant. It is a reality that cannot be changed and must be embraced if any state or country wants to be relevant in an advanced world.  The emergence of new innovations and industries will pave way for new job opportunities, the same way that robots will take over some existing ones. The best way to remain significant is moving with the trend so no one is lost in the crowd.

The future will be very different from what is portrayed by the Centre of Cities. Aside from the frustration that artificial intelligence will replace most human jobs, we have to accommodate the fact the sex dolls will also replace human interaction and intimacy. Meanwhile, a lot of people are struggling with an addiction to smartphones.  Just when we thought this was a huge problem, the issue with robots taking over has been a subject of great concern. In years to come, it would look like a phase of criticism never occurred.