Robots are inevitably becoming a part of our world and as technological growth soars, these human mimicking creations might be taking the wheel of most human activities and processes in the nearest future.
It is unequivocally true that these awesome machines offers so much benefits when brought into the picture, yet they can be sometimes irritating. Technological advancement can either be perceived as a blessing or the reverse depending on the side of the wall you are standing.
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BUSINESS PROCESSES
Business processes often requires a reasonable degree of accuracy, efficiency and speed in it modus operandi or processes. The introduction of robot and technology would not only help in achieving these objectives but would most likely affect the company’s bottom line. However, bringing robots into the picture has the propensity to cause a great deal of disruption. Businesses and industries are seeing a rapid displacement, disruption, and, in extreme cases, outright destruction. The ever evolving world of technology has either disrupted lots of business or sent them into extinct. For a business or company whose product and services is susceptible to being changed or transformed, it must never fail to keep evolving with technology. Companies such as Digital Equipment Corp., Data General, Xerox, Prime, Kodak, Polaroid, Lucent, Nortel, Gateway, Lotus, Ashton Tate, Borland, Novell, Tower Records, Borders, Barnes & Noble, and Blockbuster suffered and got bitten real hard because they failed to craft an appropriate response to disruptive technology.
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FINANCIAL INDUSTRY
Taking a ride into the Crypto world of blockchain, as much as every Crypto enthusiast would not hesitate to give a thumbs up to the creator of this amazing technology called blockchain, folks in the banking sector do not share this sentiment. The increasing number of digital payment startups, bitcoin companies and cryptocurrency exchange platforms gaining so much awareness underscore the fact that Blockchain will be disrupting and almost replacing the conventional centralized model of the banking industry.
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JOB MARKET
The job market will never cease to get the hardest punch from the robotic and artificial intelligence industry. With intelligent bookkeeping softwares, Google language translator, drones and driver-less cars, jobs such as Post/Mail deliver man, bookkeepers, newspaper reporters, interpreters and translators are likely to go into extinct in the near future. The good side of this advancement is that several new jobs have been created and more will be created. Jobs like Software Developer, Data Analyst, Web Designers, Graphic Designers, Social Media Managers and Drone Operators never existed many years ago. Although, most people whose job may or might be threatened by technology would argue that technology will kill more jobs than it would create. Yet, statistics shows that technology has done better by creating more job than it has killed. A study by economists at the consultancy Deloitte compiled census data for England and Wales stretching back to 1871 and it suggest that the growth of jobs in the creative, care, tech and business service industries have more than offset the loss of jobs in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors. With the huge risk of extinction due to the avalanche of evolving technologies that tends to automate processes, employees owe it to themselves to update their skills or improve on their adoption of technology in their workplaces.
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WAY OF LIVES
Technology has improved our way of lives in no small measures. Devices and apps such as social media has improved our mode of communication, collaboration and daily activities. You will agree with me that automated and intuitive systems has and will continue to redefine the way we work. As much as the benefits of technology are immense, we can not but forget how negatively it has impacted on our way of lives. The negative impact technology has been a subject of discuss in recent times. Taking social media into focus, lots of people have unconsciously subjected their happiness and state of mind to be determined based on the number of likes they get for their activities on social media platforms. It has also made face-to-face meeting very awkward and much less frequent. This has resulted in a decline in social skills as it has created a comfort zone for us, especially when it comes to interacting with others. I would ask that you take a look around when next you are walking down the road, boarding a bus or train, how many people are talking to each other and how many or looking at their phones? We can’t change the advancement in technology and we can’t debate it huge benefits on our lives however we need to stay conscious of its disruptive and negative impacts on our way of lives.
Finally, I strongly believe robots and technology are the best things that has happened to humanity and our world in general. We owe our ourselves a duty to stay on the right side of it, find a perfect balance in applying it and never fail to keep evolving with technology.