ARE WE RACING WITH MACHINES?

The birth of the new millennium gave more credence and a go ahead to much flexibility to and in science and technology. The world knew science would give a fresh air to the already murky air of postulations, beliefs, incongruences and ‘unnecessary’ metaphysics. And as people opened the windows of fresh air of the world to their hearts, science was let loose to every sides it can go, yes every sides, both the positive part and the pejorative parts.

Nah! Science exploration never started in the 2000, it has been from the beginning (I mean if there was ever a beginning, and if there is anything before the beginning). Man always wanted it better and that is basically science. But then from the late 20th century, around 1990s that Erick Brynjolfsson and McAfee called the “second age of science”, to the early century, there was need to progress and almost every hindrance to science and technology gave way. This importantly gave birth to the science that gave birth to the modern man. This would go a very long way to affect and effect his moral ethics for a long time; Artificial intelligence.

Human must show what she can do, but at the same time not degrade its respect for one of her fundamental human dignity. This is a contradiction, because in itself Artificial intelligence is a show off on the omniscience of man, engineered towards performing task typically require of human intelligence and hard work. On the other hand, it has removed a larger percent from work. Work is a duty that gives respect to man and then gives him the manifestation and dignity as a doer, not necessarily what she tends to gain, but the fact that he functions as a being. But Artificial intelligence robs man the need for work and enjoys this moral autonomy to work.

The major question which is unanswered here, and which I know you have been yearning to get from this write up is, “how does artificial intelligence affect work?” and “how is that a problem to the human dignity”. Firstly, artificial intelligence reduces the quantity of work drastically, as a matter of fact, if man should reach its peak of artificial intelligence about 98% of the world would be laid off from their work, because every services they render is under automation by machines. Only about 2% would be employed, and they are those ones that creates these machines.

There are genuine proofs to this. In 2007 after the recession in United States of America, the ratio of unemployed people rose to about 4.8% that was about 6.8million Americans were out of job and about a great margin of 1.6million persons were not ready to work, greatly because they have given up on the search for jobs[1]. A vintage beetle volkswagon car took about 50 men in different fields to complete in the 70s, but a Ford Mustang jeep would only take about 20 men

[1] Adam Saunders, Technology Impact on Growth and Employment

who get their way around machines their use. Were would the other 30 men go in a drastic increase of population.

There is absolutely no one to blame for this rapid backslides. The market is very simple! Companies employs the automation of machines, which is deride of empathy, unpattern, mathematical, non-creativity, in no time, garbage in garbage out and then get the job done at the end with same result, and less stress and emotions, thereby cutting cost, same products with over 150% less cost, more gain.

But here is a very touchy and interesting story to this, before the coronavirus hit in the late 2019, there were about 18million out of work Americans. During the corona virus about 51million Americans are unemployed[1]. The answer to this is not far-fetched, many jobs went into remote and many company services still went on 100%. Simply put, we are already at the age were we are not needed for work to go on. Machines took our jobs.

Emmanuel Kant a German philosopher attributed dignity of a person to stem from ‘DUTY’. The obligation to do something and be held responsible in praise or in a punishment, this he kept on the rostrum of categorical imperative. In the next century or centuries to come only about 70% of humans will be out of work. That is to say the posts of duty where we display prudence, docility, hard work, goodwill, and responsibility wouldn’t be there for us.

But what has gone wrong with this development? Can development in science and technology come to hunt us and undermine our duty and usefulness? But it can’t be definitely, right? In the general view of it, AI and machines have been instrumental to the growth of man, to say the least, though machines are taking away jobs, our lives has improved drastically, courtesy of it. The phones, the healthcare, genetic engineering, mechanics and many more, imperatively we are not so racing with machines, we rather create an avenue for it to plunder why it makes life easier for us.

There is another chance that we are not going to be called off duty by machines. Because there is something machine cannot actually do. They cannot be the “unmoved mover” of themselves. It is definitely going to make us instead of being mere workers, working as machines as it was in the earlier capitalist era, we would embrace more dutiful and fulfilling job of creators of machine and the ideas of what machine run on. We would stare into the eyes of machines and say “I created you”, this would be the noble of all duty.

[1] Jack Kelly, Forbes. 51 Million Americans are Unemployed https://forbes.com