The article “U.S. Lost Over 60 Million Jobs—Now Robots, Tech And Artificial Intelligence Will Take Millions More” published focuses on the ongoing unrest around the future of the job market and AI presence within. It is a well-constructed article that delivers a professional opinion on the subject. The author also establishes a sufficient ethical appeal due to his career list and publishment in the renowned business magazine — The Forbes. The rhetorical composition is balanced as an appeal to ethos, pathos, and logos are present in an equalized manner, pointing to the effectiveness of the reading.
In summary, the author, Jack Kelly, provides statistical data from the World Economic Forum (WEF) and PriceWaterhouseCoopers to reveal professional expertise on displacement by automation. Consequently, WEF argues that automation might affect “85 million jobs by 2025” while expanding the market in the future with 97 million new professional opportunities. PriceWaterhouseCoopers forecasts an increase of up to “$15 trillion to global GDP by 2030” (Kelly, 2020). The two indicate a positive view of the situation and demonstrate one side of the argument. However, high-profile business leaders and politicians express their concerns about the progress of AI. The concerns vary in scope but seemed to collaborate on the perception of AI as a potential threat to the economy (Kelly, 2020). The article ends with the precaution that when the transition to an automized state of affairs would not be able to fill the gap within the job market, it is vital to monitor the ongoing trends to mitigate potential threats.
The author uses several rhetorical devices to construct a persuasive article and convince the reader of the possibility of AI displacement. He uses logos — an appeal to the logic and reason of the audience by organizing the ideas in a comprehensive structure. Namely, it divides each perspective by placing them in separate paragraphs. The writer includes relevant evidence from trustworthy sources such as consulting firm — PWC, an independent not-for-profit foundation — WEF, interview excerpts reflecting the opinion of several famous businessmen such as Bill Gates, Elon Musk, and Mark Cuban. The conclusion also reflects a reasonable and logical approach as the data suggests maintaining a precautious attitude towards the upcoming changes. It should be noted that there is no in-depth explanation of the actual mechanics of automation, mainly which human functions within organizations are replaced by robots. However, this information is self-explanatory as the author provides a generalizable direction of AI integration — physical labor and job positions such as “banking and financial services employees, factory workers and office staff” (Kelly, 2020). Therefore, it is not a critical issue in the appeal to logos.
On account of ethos, it is evident that the author includes multiple perspectives that act as an authority representing a trustworthy opinion. Some argue that automation would compensate for the lost jobs by opening new career opportunities and inevitably balancing the market. Others approach the topic with a more grounded overview by configuring that “120 million workers” would require retraining shortly to adapt to changes (Kelly, 2020). This combination of opinions and research accounts for inclusion and respect for multiple perspectives, even those that act as counterarguments. Ultimately, it results in the balanced use of current and credible sources. However, primary sources are briefly mentioned, and the exact link is not included, which diminishes the persuasion through credibility. Moreover, the possibility of a biased attitude towards the topic is not reflected in the article, affecting its persuasion.
The analysis of the appeal to pathos unveils the use of evocative language. The first paragraph introduces a threat that robots pose to employment by building upon existing crises and essentially instilling certain fear in the reader. This is essentially an irony that acts as a fear-evoking instrument and a humorous element to grab the audience’s attention. Certain parts of the text, such as “in a dire prediction” or “furious pace,” increase the emotional appeal through the application of descriptive words (Kelly, 2020). Simultaneously, the majority of opinions illustrate a hypothetical turn of events that allow the reader to personally imagine the consequences of automation. This engages the reader into thinking about future job opportunities and acts as a memorable piece of information for contemplation.
The evaluation of the writer’s Kairotic appeal demonstrates that the effectiveness of the overall presentation of the argument. It starts with the thesis in the form of an ironic joke which is solidified by data from WEF and PWC but with lesser impact. The lesser impact is compensated by the following negative interpretation from WEF and other sources, which provide the strongest point of evidence that computers are indeed capable of drastically reducing the current infrastructure of employment. Then concluding remarks finalize the thesis with the precautionary middle ground. This timing in the structure of the article increases the effectiveness and engages the audience until the conclusion because it represents a relevant topic for the ongoing job crisis.
In conclusion, the article effectively manages rhetorical tools by utilizing the appeal to Kairos, pathos, ethos, and logos. The appeal to Kairos reflects effective timing of the provided perspectives by lowering and raising the engagement through the sequence of positive and negative views on the subject. The engagement through pathos is reflected in the ironic first paragraph and occasional writing of descriptive words. Logos is appealed by the inclusion of relevant sources and the separation of contrasting opinions. The credibility or ethos is reinforced by using the opinions of professional institutions and individuals that specialize in economic trends, business, and the technology market. Overall, the tools are balanced despite the limitations in the form of limited use of primary sources for statistical data or inclusion of the links for references.
Reference
Kelly, J. (2020). U.S. lost over 60 million jobs-now robots, Tech and artificial intelligence will take millions more. Forbes.