How Machines Replace Jobs Throughout History

By Natasha Pullman, freelance writer.

Technological advancement and automation are the forces that bring comfort, safety, and convenience into our lives. Throughout the last few decades, civilizations have taken exponential leaps, all thanks to machines and contraptions that power them. Just as the quality of life for average people improves, everything comes at a cost. The cost of progress revolves around the loss of jobs.

We observe the first significant jump in work output and efficiency during the Industrial Revolution and the invention of the steam engine. Just as new appliances accelerate important tasks, the regular folk have to endure some amount of suffering.

While unfortunate souls may lose their livelihood, progress, and survival, most adaptive people reign supreme. Younger generations learn new skills and traits, while older folks do their best to requalify for new positions. Even if it is not an easy feat, improvements far outweigh the losses.

However, XXI century improvements present new problems that have never been faced before. In the information age, new gadgets, hardware, and software are so abundant that the union of the physical and digital worlds results in fast advancements that even frighten common people. Even tech-savvy individuals find difficulties adapting to the godlike technology we have today.

Artificial Intelligence is the new boogeyman, threatening to take our jobs. But unlike the inventions of the industrial revolution, the standards are far higher. A modern machine that learns to perform multiple tasks to mimic and outperform the human mind sounds far more frightening.

In this article, we will discuss the threat of machines replacing jobs. How real is it, how machine learning changes the game, and what can one do to adapt to the next stage of advancement? Even in the modern age, intelligent machines are superior for singular tasks without too much branching. Even now, multitasking remains the strength of a biological brain. Last but not least, we will discuss specialized aspects of artificial intelligence and automation. For example, the modern internet even has tools for faster, automated navigation.

SERP API is a tool that helps us accelerate the collection of information from the Google search engine. When everyone has access to the web and its riches, the fastest and most efficient parties take the cake and use automated tools to replace these manual tasks but perform them at far greater speed. While SERP API is the best software with an interface suited for the job, some data collectors might not have the luxury to use this tool and need to seek an alternative.

Information extraction from a search engine is frowned upon by the owning companies, but not an illegal activity. To protect yourself, check out Smartproxy — one of the best proxy server providers that offer protection for those seeking to automate data collection from the most popular search engine. Visit their website to find out more about the process.

A common man's fear becomes a reality

There is no denying the truth that instills fear in older individuals and anxiety for the unknown, unpredictable future. Artificial intelligence has already started taking over from very primitive to moderately complex tasks, either in a form of software or fully operational robots as seen in the most advanced factories and warehouses.

The vast improvements of information technologies have spearheaded the ongoing destruction of the need for physical labor, as more and more tasks get completed by automated machines. What has been branded as the demolisher of livelihood for the common folk is already chipping away at our workforce. However, as in many cases, the quality of life for citizens keeps improving, and the ongoing digital revolution promises good changes for the future.

Jobs replaced by robots

The majority of workplaces, replaced by artificial intelligence and automation, revolve around meticulous, one-dimensional tasks that require skill and depend on precision. Accountants, bookkeepers, proofreaders, and other jobs that rely on the management of resources and precise adjustments may soon be replaced by intelligent machines.

Customer service and related work positions may become a thing of the past, especially for services that can function properly without direct human contact. From simple purchases of plane tickets to interactions with robot receptionists, even somewhat humanitarian services might become obsolete in a new world.

With further learning about mass movement and spatial awareness, automated machines will soon start performing more complex physical labor at a far greater speed and precision than the average warehouse and factory worker. Conveyors and robotic hands have been a significant part of modern factories, and further, more complex automation will only continue work output acceleration.

A new person for the new world

While promises of a dystopian world where human life becomes obsolete are not completely far-fetched, everyone has to adapt to the tasks and challenges of a new world, even if technologies progress much faster than our biological bodies.

While still segmented into different professions and niches, a worker in the new world has to have a deeper understanding of improving software and hardware to use incredibly effective appliances in the right situations to achieve optimal results. Administrating, maintaining, and tinkering with algorithmic automation will help the new generation have a career in the modern world and contribute to the never-ending progress.

While the folks too stubborn to adapt will, unfortunately, feel out of place, as workplaces, social interactions, and even forms of entertainment become unrecognizable. From simple gadgets to complex, self-learning computers, appliances and machines have been replacing tasks and jobs throughout history. As always, we humans find a way to adapt and learn to deal with new problems of the future!