Trevor Goehring

Mrs. Lohmeyer

ENGL 101

4/15/2018

Are today’s jobs at risk from technology of the future?

The year is 2029. Advanced technology has advanced to the point where cyborgs are in a war with

humanity. A cyborg assassin is sent back in time to the year 1984 to stop a human who came up with an

effective way to save the humans from this cyborg takeover. One man, also from 2029, is sent after the

cyborg assassin in order to save humanity from being hopeless against these cyborg enemies.

The idea of robots taking over the human race has been shown throughout books, television shows,

and even video games throughout the years. I want to know if there is any truth to it. While we can infer

that the possibility of robots taking over in a form such as that in the film The Terminator is very slim, I

am interested in finding out if we should be worrying about losing our jobs within this new age of

technology. One of the many fields of work that is already being affected by technology is healthcare.

Over the years, technology has been implemented into healthcare to assist workers and help patients.

This technology has come in the form of wearable sensors, tablets, ultrasound imaging devices and

many other machines. So far, these additions have not affected jobs, but new technology is on the way

that leads us to wonder if they will be at risk. I believe that if we use the knowledge of how technology

has affected our jobs in the past, we can prove what I believe: our jobs are safe not only in healthcare

but in all lines of work as well.

I want to know if we should be worried about losing our jobs. One way to figure this out is to look

back at how technology has influenced us in the past, as well as how it is changing now. By doing this,
we can make an educated guess about the future. Nicholas Carr gives us a look at the past in his essay

“Is Google Making Us Stupid?” In his essay, Carr brings up the story of Friedrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche was

a writer, but his vision was failing him. Carr states, “He had been forced to curtail his writing, and he

feared that he would soon have to give it up.” (Carr 318) Nietzsche then bought a typewriter in hopes

that it would be less strenuous on his vision. It did indeed help him write again but at a cost. Nietzsche

reported that his writing had changed when using the typewriter. He stated, “our writing equipment

takes part in the forming of our thoughts.” (Carr 319) Carr believes that this case is an example of how

technology changes the way our minds work. However, I think the opposite. I believe that this example

shows how technology can help us with performing tasks as well as give us the chance to learn from

using the technology.

The typewriter is a good example of changing technology, but I don’t think we have to worry about a

typewriter taking our jobs anytime soon. Our jobs today are being threatened by machines that aim to

perform the tasks that humans can easily do today in the workforce. However, the technology of the

future that could take jobs is already being used today. The use of this technology has grown over 70%

throughout the last 10 years. (Byhovskaya) The growth of these machines have been quick, but it has

had little influence on the number of jobs being lost. (Byhovskaya) Karen Korzep has similar thoughts on

this topic. Korzep relates these thoughts into the field of healthcare. More specifically, a form of

technology used to help enhance public health known as TeleHealth. She states, “While it may be true

that all these areas can have job reductions due to TeleHealth, it is a debated fact that technology

creates jobs. In the instance of TeleHealth, there will be a need for information technology professionals

to implement, maintain and enhance this technology.” (Korzep) So, If machines do take some of our

jobs, the demand for human social skills in jobs will adapt and be much higher. These views from Korzep,

Byhovskaya and Carr help prove my point that we do not need to be fearful that our jobs are about to
be taken from us. This fear of future technology has been around for years, and we have always come

out on top.

Technology comes with a sense of fear and adventure. I believe that the sense of adventure can be

exciting. With new forms of electronics coming out it is hard to not get excited for what’s going to come

next. However, often the sense of fear can keep these senses of excitement pushed down. The author of

“Better than Human”, Kevin Kelly, agrees with me and believes that technology taking our jobs should

not be one of these fears. He states, “Two hundred years ago, 70 percent of American workers lived on

the farm. Today automation has eliminated all but 1 percent of their jobs, replacing them with

machines. But the displaced workers did not sit idle. Instead, automation created hundreds of millions

of jobs in entirely new fields.” (Kelly 299). Kelly believes that technology will take our jobs, but new jobs

will come out of it that will prevent us from being unemployed. We will eventually realize that the

machines can handle our jobs and we will give it to them. However, while they will be taking our job, we

will not be thrown to the curb. New jobs will need to be made, much like the farmers in the quote. It will

be impossible to guess what these jobs will be, but with advancing technology there will be advancing

ideas. (Kelly 311). Kelly’s ideas go along with mine in that we will not be unemployed. With almost every

invention or piece of technology that comes out, jobs will come with it.

One of the more technology influenced jobs out of all of them is healthcare. A famous name in this

advance in healthcare technology is Telehealth. Telehealth is a collection of ideas used for improving

areas of healthcare. (Korzep) Some common uses for Telehealth are E-visits and E-consults, where

patients can interact with a physician via a secure email or phone. (Korzep). In the essay “The Future of

Technology and the Effect it may have on Replacing Human Jobs” by Karen Korzep, Korzep talks about

how Telehealth is affecting hospitals and healthcare facilities around the world. Korzep describes how

Telehealth is not only helpful in communicating, but it can also be used to help with remote monitoring
and surgeries. Korzep believes that while we will lose some jobs, others will be changed or created and

will need a human mind and body.

Having shown that technology has ultimately helped create and maintain jobs as well as displayed

how jobs in healthcare are not only going to stay around but also improve, I now want to branch this off

into all fields of work. Anna Byhovskaya believes that no jobs will be at risk in the future. In her essay

“Robots Versus Workers” she states, “Nor can a robot make the same reasonable choices or have the

socio-emotional skills of a human worker.” (Byhovskaya). She believes that a battle with the machines is

not likely. In fact, it might be the opposite. There are simply some jobs that robots cannot accomplish. In

other words, technology would have to work with us in the work force. This teamwork between workers

and robots would mean that the decider of whether or not workers would keep their jobs would not

only be the machines, it would also be the companies that employ them. (Byhovskaya). This is not to say

that technology will have nothing to do with our jobs, but rather that the companies will have to decide

whether or not their business will be able to manage without human interaction.

One of the main points in Byhovskaya’s essay is how we will need to work alongside the advancing

technology. In the essay, “Smarter than You Think” by Clive Thompson, Thompson agrees with

Byhovskaya and discusses how it is important for us to interact with technology in order to keep

improving the world. An example that Thompson uses is the implementation of technology within chess.

He states, “Before computers, it was extremely rare for teenagers to become grand masters.”

(Thompson 359) This example of chess shows how much technology can improve us individually.

“Before computers, it was extremely rare for teenagers to become grand masters.” (Thompson 359) The

examples from Byhovskaya and Thompson show that technology is not something to be feared. If

anything, technology should be wanted in order for humans to improve themselves and the world

around them. Many people will be skeptical of these robots at first. It will not only take time to invent

them, but it will also take time for humans to adjust to their presence.
 Yet some readers may challenge my view by insisting that we should be worrying about our jobs. Alex

Williams, author of the article “Will Robots Take Our Jobs?”, believes that we should be fearful. He

states, “Yes, robots have the potential to outsmart us and destroy the human race. But, first, artificial

intelligence could make countless professions obsolete by the time my sons reach their 20s.” (Williams).

He then goes on to talk about jobs that are already being affected by technology. One of these jobs is

being a corporate lawyer. He states, “Any legal job that involves lots of mundane document review is

vulnerable.” (Williams) While he is correct that some jobs are being taken, he does not bring up the jobs

that are being created from the same technology.

In conclusion, I believe that our jobs will not be taken over from future technology. Using our past

experiences with technology being implemented into the work force we can infer that our jobs will not

only be safe but more advanced because of it. It is impossible to know what kinds of technology the

future will bring. Our smartphones might one day have the same technological significance as the

microwave oven does for us today. The jobs we have now might be taken over by robots in the future,

but the same robots that take our jobs will pave the way for us to explore more opportunities and solve

more problems. More specifically, healthcare will be more helpful than ever. Using Telehealth as well as

other future ideas, it will be easier than ever to help those in need. So, I don’t think we need to fear

future technology taking our jobs. I believe that it will only improve them.
Works Cited:

Byhovskaya, Anna. "Robots Versus Workers: Towards an Open, Equitable and Inclusive Digital

Economy." Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.the OECD Observer, 2017,

pp. 3-1NN,2NN,3NN, ProQuest,

http://www3.northern.edu:2048/login?url=https://www3.northern.edu:2119/docview/192063

3414?accountid=44657. Accessed on 27 March 2018.

Carr, Nicholas. "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" "They Say/I Say": the Moves that Matter in Academic

Writing, with Readings, by Gerald Graff et al., W.W. Norton & Company, 2014, pp.313-328.

Kelly, Carr. “Better than Human: Why Robots Will-And Must-Take Our Jobs” “They Say/I Say”: the Moves

that Matter in Academic Writing, with Readings, by Gerald Graff et al., W.W. Norton &

Company, 2014, pp.299-312.

Korzep, Karen. "The Future of Technology and the Effect It May Have on Replacing Human Jobs."

Technology & Health Care, vol. 18, no. 4/5, July 2010, pp. 353-358. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.3233/THC20100592. Accessed on 27 March 2018.