Dan Mayer

WRTG 3030

Paper 1

Automation of the Nation

There are no jobs for you, anywhere. This situation has been the fear of many people since the industrial revolution. Now the issue is being raised again over computers and automation entering the work place. Computers as we know them today began in the 1940’s, created to do repetitive mathematics quickly and without error. Since then, computers have been brought into every imaginable area of our lives, including the workplace. Technologies thus far have been able to replace thousands of workers by doing their jobs more efficiently and more accurately. According to Andrew Garber, a writer for Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc, Companies are using automation increasingly to allow one man (controlling a machine) to do the task of ten men (1996). With the aid of computers, people have been able to build and design cars in only a fraction of the time it originally took to build them. Technologies have revolutionized industry and changed the workplace today by increasing productivity, profits, and safety. Some think the American economy has suffered and will continue to suffer because of the effects computers have on the workforce. However, while hurting society initially, the computerization of American industry will benefit the whole society immensely in the long run.

Many believe that as computers and automation become more efficient and affordable, there will be little to no need for unskilled labor, or the blue collar worker, in today’s society. This can be illustrated by the “many victims of a technology revolution that is fast replacing human beings with machines...” according Jeremy Rifkin, president of Economic Trends (Rifkin, 1995, p xv). Computers have been the driving force behind the renewed gains and implementation of automation systems. According to Kirkpatrick Sale, a leader of the Neo-Luddites, a group against automation, “We have an estimated 6 million people who have lost their jobs to automation, or to overseas shops, since 1988” (2002). Some workers in industries very susceptible to computer automation have suffered severely. The industries of paper, logging, and automobile manufacturing have reduced labor significantly. Garber claims, “New technology was the driving force behind a reduction of about 45 percent in the work force at the East Millinocket paper plant” (1996). In fact so many have lost their jobs, the entire town is dying.

Another problem that has been caused by the automation of industry is that labor unions are in a weaker bargaining position than in the past. With less of a need for workers and more people competing over the same jobs, companies have not had reason to share profits or provide many benefits. Factories have experienced increased productivity rates, lower labor cost, and more reliable production, which has led to increased profits. While managers and stockholders have made very large profits, workers have not been receiving appropriate earnings. According to Garber, “Chief executive officers of those companies (paper companies) overall saw an average 65 percent increase in cash compensation, adjusted for inflation.” While at the same time, “hourly wages for Maine paper workers increased only about 1 percent … adjusted for inflation” (1996). The lower wages directly illustrates how much power labor unions lost. The constant layoffs and little chance for other employment have taken most of workers' power. Without this power workers do not have the ability to force corporations to share benefits and profits. Anytime a union would complain it would be very easy to just hire new employees.

While technologies has caused some problems, computers and automation together have revolutionized the way companies do business. The benefits are much more important than just being able to complete a task with fewer workers. The benefits come from what the technology changes for companies, consumers, workers, and society as a whole. Rifkin writes, “we are entering a new phase in world history-one in which fewer and fewer workers will be needed to produce the goods and services for the global population”(1996). While there are fewer workers in many industries, they have been producing more than ever before. Factories have been made safer for employees while also making safer products that are more reliable for consumers. Companies now can have tighter integration of all their operations using databases, which allow them to cut costs by eliminating redundant or unneeded costs. Businesses have been able to let a consumer come to them directly like never before. Since the advent of the Internet direct to consumer business has been introduced to almost every type of product one could imagine. Companies have been able to sell products globally and work with other companies from around the world, without having to start an office or send employees overseas. New products that couldn't be created by human workers can now be crafted by machinery with much more precision than possible before. The new ways in which businesses have been able to build, create, and design are infinite, and they have changed almost every aspect they way we work.

The benefits for companies to use new computer and automation technology are enormous. Profits have increased in many ways through the use of computers and automation. The increased savings by producing fewer defects, more products in less time, with fewer workers to operate an entire plant are just a few ways of saving. Professor Hoffman, of Webster University, illustrates this in a statement “errors created by human operators, or those users who interact with the system, amount to nearly 85-90 percent of all system problems” (1999). Computers have also allowed for testing of designs, which have saved countless lives in complex machines like automobiles, planes, and other equipment where human life is at risk. A report released by U.S. Department of Transportation states, “DYNA3D is a nonlinear finite element code that can be used, in conjunction with the computer, to replicate three-dimensional motor vehicle crashes.” The report describes how this computer system has been used for crash testing cars, and for making accidents safer for everyone in an accident. The report continues: “For the past 50 years, costly trial-and-error crash testing has been the only procedure available,” (1998) but with the use of computers, testing has been brought to a reasonable cost. The use of computers has also sped up the process of designing products; with the ability to design objects in 3d on computers architects can produce more accurate designs much quicker than in the past. Products that could have never been developed without the use of computers have now been made possible. Some calculations and data inspection would take years with only humans performing them, but analyzing millions of results can be performed in minutes of computer use.

Technology itself is leading to higher education for students and people in our society. Simple software has been found effective in teaching math, spelling, and science to students. According to a report to the President on the use of technology to strengthen K-12 Education in the United States, “Each of these four meta-analysis found that students using computer-based systems outperformed those taught without the use of such systems, with the magnitude of the average out performance computed in each meta-analysis varying between 25 and 41 percent of a standard deviation” (1997). This shows that while computers and technology may make it harder for laborers to find work without higher education, computers also can help fix the problem they cause. Computers have provided the ability to find help on almost any topic online, and people have access to all kinds of educational information that in the past was only accessible if you could afford to go to college. Now some colleges include their entire courses, notes, and exams online. Wired, a technology magazine, is reporting “the Massachusetts Institute of Technology plans to make the materials for nearly all its courses freely available over the Internet in the next 10 years.” Understanding how to use a tool as powerful as a computer has made many people capable of doing things they would never have dreamed of being able to do. With a little knowledge of how to work with a computer one can quickly move from being a blue collar laborer to an important skilled worker with experience in a certain aspect of a job that makes you invaluable to a company.

Computers and automation may have removed many workers from laboring jobs, but many of those jobs were just replaced by new jobs that required higher education. This can be painful and even hurtful to people in the laboring positions, but in the end it helps increase the need for a more educated society. Every time a job requires more highly skilled workers, the more incentives companies see to helping pay for higher education, supporting schools, or teaching children the need to be more educated. A society with more people of higher education can think for itself and take more control of what is taking place around them. According to a paper from U.S. Census Bureau, “more educated people vote more than less educated people” (2001). I believe that automation will help to lead to higher education throughout society. Automation also has helped save many lives from fatally malfunctioning products. Some parts that are being produced are too important to allow human error, or a lazy mistake, to affect their production. Automation is also needed as a way to compete globally with other corporations. Automation has positively affected so many aspects of people’s lives, I think it is worth the sacrifice of some workers jobs for the sake of progress. This does not mean I have no sympathy for workers and their families who have suffered. I believe the companies need to be more responsible for their impact on workers lives. If a worker loses his job due to a lack of education to a job requiring higher education, companies should help to cover costs of any additional education that would be needed for the employee to stay with the company. Companies would also have to be willing to begin providing education in time for an employee to complete the needed classes in order to keep a position at the company. Educating workers would not reduce over all benefits or profits of automation. It would simply delay the earnings benefits of automation, while increasing company loyalty and moral. Computers and automation allow people to reach a greater amount of their potential. Our society should continue to use computers as a powerful tool to create a world better than ever imaginable before.

References

Robyn Williams (1998).Are computers out to get you?. Radio Nationals Ockham's Razor Online, <http://www.abc.net.au/rn/science/ockham/stories/s10343.htm> (2002)

Andrew Garber (1996). Automation costs jobs in mill town. Press Herald on line, <http://www.portland.com/specialrpts/richpoor/day4.htm> (2002)

Jeremy Rifkin (1995). The End of Work. G.P. Putnam's Sons.

Kevin Kelly (2002). Interview with a Luddite. Action on line, <http://www.wacc.org.uk/publications/action/242/luddite.html> (2002)

William C. Hoffman (1999). The Business Environment. The Exploitation of Technology Online, <http://home.att.net/~hoffmanwc/COMP5920/Chap-5.htm> (2002)

(1998). Computer Crashed Great for Roadside Safety Research. Texas Transportation Researcher on line, <http://tti.tamu.edu/researcher/v34n1/dyna3d.stm> (2002)

David E. Shaw (1997). Report to the President on the Use of Technology to Strengthen K-12 Education in the United States. Panel on Educational Technology, <http://www.ostp.gov/PCAST/k-12ed.html> (2002)

U.S. Census Bureau (2001). The Emerging American Voter: Abstract. U.S. Census Bureau on line, <http://www.census.gov/population/documentation/twps0044/gifshow/tsld004.htm> (2002)