The automation of the working process may have many different impacts on society. There is a belief that automatization will cause a significant moral reconsideration of the role of human labor. Some researchers believe that this process will inevitably cause a high unemployment rate and the elimination of particular professions (Allienne et al. 133). Moreover, there is also an opinion that inequality and lack of freedom will conquer society. Such a point of view is correlated with the technological resources acquired by particular companies or countries (Celentano 45). Others consider automation as a possibility to equalize all types of labor (Fernández & Fernández-Martínez 210). Despite the diverse perspectives on labor automatization, it is the future of a society that brings many positive changes and contributes to the progressive development of people.
Thompson, in his article, addresses the question of the life-satisfaction and happiness through the prism of work. The author emphasizes that the general labor automation contributing to the equalization of work value will allow people to find their calling more easily (Thompson). Other researchers even claim that work is an unnecessary factor in finding their life aim (Harari). Considered from these perspectives, technological advancement provides more freedom and happiness.
The negative consequences of labor automation can be efficiently controlled. Thompson provides examples of how the labor loss problem can be solved (Thompson). All the management techniques are related to maintaining the globalization process. The author also highlights the idea that technological advancement can empower the equalization of the different work values (Thompson). Such a situation is potentially beneficial for people because they will have more freedom in choosing their profession. Such factors as salary or prestige will not limit the choice.
At this point, it would be reasonable to appeal to specific ideas that Thompson presents. In the first section, he claims that millennia of technical advancement have transformed the American workforce. Agriculture spawned the farming sector, the industrialization brought individuals into processing plants, and then globalization and mechanization ushered them out again, giving rise to a service-based economy. However, the overall number of positions has consistently grown during these reshuffles. On the horizon, there is a period of the technical jobless state of affairs, in which computer programmers and software developers basically create us out of jobs, with the overall number of jobs progressively and permanently decreasing.
In the following section, Thompson describes the reasons for the inevitability of the “end of work.” First, it is labor’s losses; the decline of human work as a driver of economic development is among the first things one may anticipate observing during a phase of technology displacement. In fact, there were hints that this has been occurring for a long time. Second, it is the rise in the number of unemployed males and young people in the US. Third, it is the software’s dexterity; one prominent criticism of the concept that technology will ultimately replace many employees is that new technologies, such as cashiers, have yet to completely replace their predecessors. As traditional work alternatives dwindle, Thompson sees three overlapping possibilities. Consumption, community creation, and contingency are all possible futures.
In the third section, Thompson appeals to the post-workists ideas that welcome the end of labor. He claims that in several fundamental ways, the representatives of such an approach are correct. Paid work does not necessarily equate to social benefit. Bringing up a child and caring for the ill are important occupations that are underpaid or not paid at all. People may devote considerable time catering for their family and loved ones in a post-work world. Pride may derive from people’s relations rather than from their jobs. However, this view is problematic because it does not describe the truth as most jobless people now perceive it (Thompson). The unemployed, for the most part, do not spend their free time mingling with friends or learning new skills. Instead, they tend to sleep or watch TV. According to time-use studies, unemployed prime-age adults devote part of their time to housekeeping and childcare.
The fourth section appeals to the historical roots of the issue. The early US middle class was made largely of artisans (Thompson). Prior to the industrial revolution, many individuals who did not labor on farms worked as metalworkers, cobblers, and woodworkers. However, many experts believe that another wave of technology will usher in a new era of skill and artistry (Fernandez and Fernández-Martínez 203). Sales managers, cashiers, and office clerks are the most popular jobs; each of them is extremely vulnerable to automation. There will be a future of creativity rather than consumerism, as technology restores construction tools to individuals, liberalizing mass-production methods (Thompson). Something resembling such a state of affairs may already be found in the modest but rising number of makerspaces that have sprung up around the US and worldwide.
In the fifth section, there are facts regarding the current state of affairs in the labor market. Whether one aspires to be a significant representative of a particular sphere, it is becoming less difficult to acquire short-term or spot jobs. Technology, ironically, is the cause – Uber, Seamless, Homejoy, and TaskRabbit are just a few of the Internet-enabled firms that link available employees with fast contracts. Online marketplaces – such as eBay – also made it simpler for consumers to undertake minor independent initiatives like furniture refurbishment. Even though the on-demand market is not yet a substantial source of employment, there are pieces of evidence reporting that “the number of “temporary-help services” workers has grown by 50% since 2010” (Thompson).
The sixth section discusses the possible role of the government in the upcoming no-work world. Local authorities would be wise to build larger and more grandiose outreach programs or other public areas where inhabitants may congregate, acquire skills, connect over activities or crafts, and interact in the near future. On an interpersonal basis, loneliness and a loss of communal pride are two of the most typical negative consequences of unemployment (Allienne 133). In the absence of full occupation, a national strategy that channeled money toward centers in disadvantaged regions may alleviate the ills of idleness. It can also provide the groundwork for long-run experiments on how to reinitiate residents in their neighborhoods. A government marketplace may focus on duties requiring empathy, compassion, or a human connection.
In the seventh section, Thompson tends to express his concluding thoughts regarding the problem. Individuals prefer to perceive themselves in occupations, careers, or callings. Those who describe their work as “simply a job” underline that they tend to work for income rather than for a greater good. Those with pure careerist goals are concerned not just with the money but also with the prestige that accompanies promotions and their colleagues’ rising notoriety. However, one follows a vocation not merely for the money or the prestige but also for the fulfillment of the task. When Thompson considers the importance of labor in people’s self-esteem, especially in the US, the idea of a future without work seems dismal for him and for other peers (Harari; Celentano 48). There is no guaranteed basic salary that can save a society predicated on a small number of employees perpetually financing the inactivity of a plethora of people. However, there is a ray of optimism in a future with less work because the requirement of paid jobs presently hinders so many people from engaging in absorbing activities that they like.
Works Cited
Allienne, Ludivine et al. “Ethical and Social Considerations for the Introduction of Human-Centered Technologies at Work.” IEEE Workshop on Advanced Robotics and its Social Impacts, vol. 1, 2018, pp. 131-138. doi:10.1109/ARSO.2018.8625830
Celentano, Denise. “Automation, Labour Justice, and Equality.” Ethics and Social Welfare, vol. 13, no. 1, 2019, pp. 33-50. doi:10.1080/17496535.2018.1512141
Fernandez, Alberto and Fernández-Martínez, Carmen. “AI and Recruiting Software: Ethical and Legal Implications.” Journal of Behavioral Robotics, vol. 11, no. 1, 2020, pp. 199-216. doi:10.1515/pjbr-2020-0030
Harari, Noah. “The Meaning of Life in A World Without Work.” The Guardian, 2017.
Thompson, Derek. “A World Without Work.” The Atlantic, 2015.