Not so long ago, deploying robots in various fields such as medicine, architecture, hospitality, tourism, and many more was merely science fiction. But now, we see them becoming factory workers, military aides, and even a restaurant chef.
Robotics has come a long way ever since, and they have been pretty much integrated into our societal systems. However, it is then worth asking: are robots taking over human jobs?
TOKYO, JAPAN - OCTOBER 19: A Torobo humanoid robot is demonstrated during the Japan Robot Week 2022 event on October 19, 2022 in Tokyo, Japan. The event showcases service robots and robot manufacturing technology and will be held from October 19 to 21.
Are Robots Taking Over?
According to a recent study by sociology professor Eric Dahlin at Brigham Young University (BYU), which was featured by ScienceDaily, there is no reason to be alarmed about a potential robot takeover. Simply put, we are not in a Black Mirror episode.
Dahlin's research claims that individuals tend to greatly overestimate the rate at which robots are replacing humans, even when this is not the case.
Only 14% of workers, according to research recently published in Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World, claim to have had their job replaced by a robot.
However, persons who have been affected by job loss brought on by a robot tend to exaggerate the impact of robots replacing humans in the workforce by about three times.
Dahlin conducted a survey of nearly 2,000 people regarding their opinions of work replacement by robots in order better to understand the relationship between job loss and robotics.
The first question asked respondents to estimate the proportion of workers whose employers have replaced jobs with robots. The next question was whether or not a robot had ever taken its employer's place.
According to the 14% of people who have had their jobs automated, 47% of all occupations have been mechanized. In a similar vein, people who had not personally experienced job displacement nonetheless believed that robots had replaced 29% of jobs.
"Overall, our perceptions of robots taking over is greatly exaggerated," Dahlin said in a statement. "Those who hadn't lost jobs overestimated by about double, and those who had lost jobs overestimated by about three times."
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Exaggerated by Headlines
According to Dahlin, the threat of robots taking over jobs has probably been exaggerated by headlines sensationalizing a bleak future for employment. Dahlin stated that humans had been concerned about being displaced by automated work processes since the early 1800s.
He noted that just because a technology can be applied to something does not indicate that it will be necessarily implemented.
Dahlin said that these results support earlier research suggesting that robots are not replacing workers. Instead, organizations are merging humans and robots in ways that increase the value of labor performed by humans.
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Written by Jace Dela Cruz
