Wooten 1

Thomas Wooten
CST 300
October 07 2020

Technology & Automation in the Work Place

According to National Academy of Engineering, Today’s cutting edge technologies such

as machine intelligence, predicative analytics, process automation, and robotics have the ability

to automate many jobs currently performed by human employees. (2018). With the

implementation of these emerging and cutting edge technologies in the work place, how do we

deal with the displacement of our labor force? Moreover, how do we responsibly implement new

and transformative technologies while ensuring prosperity for our employees that have been

replaced by automation technologies? Can we preserve them as productive members to the

economy? To evaluate the repercussions of implementing new technologies and its effects on

economies and society often requires the passage of time, and the seemingly incremental effects

are not usually obvious initially. Nor can the repercussion always be predicted or regulated. So

then how do we consider whether or not to replace labor with automation?

As society’s population has grown, the demand for goods and services has increased, thus

creating scarcity for particular goods and services that typically are demand. The term scarcity is

used to describe a condition that exists when the unlimited wants and needs of society exceed the

availability of the limited resources it desires. (Scarcity, n.d.). In the past automation and

technology has played an important role in meeting the demands for scarce goods and services.

New implementations of cutting edge technology has help reduce the scarcity of goods and

service that are in high demand by increasing our productivity and lowering our production

costs.
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One such example of automation providing a way to help meet societies demands for

goods is evident in the history of farming. Historically, Farming was a largely manual process,

from tilling the soil and planting the seeds, to harvesting the crop. Due to its time consuming and

tedious nature, the production of food could not meet the demand to feed the growing

population, and agricultural foods became scarce. As a result of implementation of agricultural

machinery, and the automation of labor that was once performed by human workers, the supply

of agricultural goods available to society has increased. As stated by the National Institute of

Food and Agriculture, “Modern farms and agricultural operations work far differently than those

a few decades ago, primarily because of advancements in technology, including sensors, devices,

machines, and information technology”. (n.d). Automation and adoption of technology in the

agricultural industry has enabled the industry to feed a growing population and fulfill the hunger

of our expanding society. Automation and technology helped sustain the demand for the farming

industry and satisfy the demand for agricultural goods by increasing the availability of goods to

individuals and communities.

However the deployment of technology and automation can also have negative effects on

industries, communities, and individuals. With the high demand for agriculture goods, and the

need to increase production of agricultural products, the implement of agricultural technologies

and machine automation became necessary to meet the cost demands of large scale farming. As

the size of farms increased the number of farms decreased. (Patricia, 1989). Large scale farming

and agriculture became necessary to meet growing demands. Large farms rely on acreage,

technology, and automation to produce the large amounts of agricultural goods that supply our

demand. Theses large farms began to reduce the scarcity of agricultural goods and thus lower the

market cost of those products. Therefore the demand of consumers were being fulfilled at a much
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lower cost to the consumer. The attractiveness of agricultural goods available in bulk and at

lower cost to the consumer inevitably led to the demise of many small or family owned farms,

some that have been in the industry for generations. With the resulting withered profits due to

market price competition, many of the family owned or small farms could not justify the

investment in large scale machinery or automation and simply could not sustain economic

viability. This displaced generation farmers and likely contributed to their exclusion, or at least

hindered their participation in the economy. In addition large scale farming and advance

agricultural practices gave rise to new environmental concerns around the now widely

implemented practices that may negatively effect not only immediate population, but future

generations as well. Those who lost their farms, or jobs as agricultural workers, may also have

suffered not only economic but social and psychological hardships. Even whole communities

that relied on farming as predominate means of monetary gains have been effected by the

implementation of new technologies and automation into their industry.

The issue with the implementation of automation and technology in the work force is that

by its nature it typically replaces human labor, and implies reduction of labor that is require to

achieve the same productive output. Once a task has been automated it can be duplicated at

relative low cost while its implementation is copied over and over until the human labor is no

longer a requirement in production. Although with the implementations of new technology there

is some amount of job creation, the skill level and requirements often make the new jobs

inaccessible to the individuals who were subject to the reduction in forces. Although it may not

be ideal for the work force, industries and companies are benefiting from the reduction in forces

and lower production cost. Industries are able to produce more good and service with a lower

cost.
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On one side of the issue with the implementation of technology and automation in the

workforce is the worker. The worker can be from any role in the workforce, from an assembler,

cook, driver, computer programmer to any type of laborer that technology and automation holds

the potential to replace in the work force. Typically the workers are looking for their share of

prosperity resulting from economic progress. They desire the ability to work and produce goods

and service in exchange for other goods and services. They value there place in society and will

try to maintain an equate level of prosperity by engagement in the economy thru participation in

the work force and by creating a demand for goods and services.

Workers make the claim that the implementation of technology and automation inhibits

their ability to ensure prosperity for themselves. While the implementation of new technologies

can sequester portions of the work force from labor markets, it can not replace their role in a

productive economy. Because although their skills are no longer in demand they still require

goods and services to survive. Simply because their skills are no longer marketable to the

workforce markets they themselves do not go way, along with their demand necessities.

Replacement of the work force with automation only limits the workers ability to compete for

their share of prosperity. This is a claim made to promote the general welfare and secure liberty

of workers in order to promote American ideologies. Polices or company practices should exists

to protect the workers from displacement in the economy to promote an overall healthy and

functioning market.

Cultural relativism is an ethic frame work that standardize the right and wrong arise from

the predominant views of a particular culture. If we are looking at the American ideologies and

beliefs then companies should look at the overall effect on the work force when introducing
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automation technologies into a sector, or develop a set of rules that should be practiced before

the implementation of new technologies.

Workers as stake holders in decision face the prospect of one day being told that their

work force skills and education are no longer marketable in today’s job market. Couple the fear

with prospective unemployment and reentry into another career could pose to large of a hurdled

to overcome for some. A causality of advancing technology and automation in the work force.

On the other side of the issue with automation and technology in the workforce you have

the business owners. The claim made by the business owners is that initially workers will lose

their jobs to automation but society as a whole will gain as productivity increases which will lead

to more jobs by way of increase spending resulting from greater availability goods and services.

(Skidelsky, 2019). In addition, not implementing automation and technology into the work force

may stifle progress and hinder the development of new ideas and technology. (Skidelsky, 2019).

This may reduce the productivity of society as whole and limit our ability to compete with other

development nations.

Egoism is the ethical concept that states the rightness of an act is determined solely by

how much it benefits the agent doing the act. Business owners are obviously very concerned with

how much they can expand their marginal benefit or profit, and their point of view aligns with an

ethical frame work of egoism. Business exist to compete against each other and generate profits

by out performing their competitors. So by focusing on the company’s successes, essentially how

profitable the company is, regardless of its impact on society or the workforce, it is in the best

interest to implement automation and technology. Since companies exist to generate profit,

marginal benefit become the sole indicator of rightness, because profit is what benefits the

companies. Business owners argue that they should have the freedom to exercise their own
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judgment when it comes to implementing technology, and they should be able to decide what is

best for the company because if we limit their potential by placing society’s burdens on their

shoulders they will not be able to compete with others in the industry and that will retard

innovation and production.

After consideration of both points of views it can be concluded that the implementations

of new technologies and automation in the workforce present economic potential for our modern

society; however awareness of not only the potential of economic advantage of these new

implementations, we need to methodically and deliberately asses when it may be advantageous

to retrogress with respect new technologies and automation to promote the overall well being of

society.

Assume that at the core of American ideologies there is a belief that individuals should or

will have the prospect of inclusion into the participation of prosperity resulting from the

collective economic progress that America consistently measures itself by. Specifically,

individual’s inclusion into prosperity means the ability for an individual to contribute to ones

own prosperity while benefiting societies total economic growth that results from each owns

individual growth. Individuals by contributing to society are able to not only earn a wages but

are given direction and purpose that will not only contribute to their overall well being, but also

give them a individual place in society. If American society simply contemplates ways to

become more efficient by implementation of new technologies and automated systems, and

simply accepts the resulting reduction in demand for the human work force without

consideration of the effects on individuals and the economy, then American society is not wholly

vested in its core ideologies. If the core objective is too exclusively increase productivity and

efficiency then the solution is quite clear, simply find the most efficient means and implement
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the newest technology as fast as we can. However, based on what one can assume Americans

core ideologies are constructed on, society is not only seeking to only promote economic

progress by monetary means but also promote prosperity and collective growth.

Assume again that another core American ideologies is promote the growth of its

economies to compete in the world markets. Then inherently, stifling innovation and effective

new technologies that could increase our ability to compete in the world markets, is counter

productive and present conflict with Americas core values.

However if we look again at the evolution of farming in America we can see that a

revelation is taking place again today. Society is re-evaluating the economic and social value of

small technological regressed farms. Farms that grow specialize agricultural products that are

grown for specific purposes, purposes that assimilate with core value of their consumers,

consumers that are not necessarily concerned with how much and how cheap they can purchase

these product but whether or not consumption of these products are ethical and healthy. Not only

healthy for them as consumers but for the environment and for future generations of consumers.

Farm to table restaurants, eat local advertising campaigns, and famous chef that design menus

around products that are seasonally available from the local farms.

In conclusion the implementations of new technologies and automation in industry is and

important step in our progression as a productive society, and it is the responsibility of the

members of society to evaluate the usefulness of technology. The economic demand for goods

and services ultimately is driven from the members of the economy, which accounts for both sets

stake holders, and as members of the economy we ultimately effect the conclusions of how we

value the work force. As stated by Mokyr “Unless all individuals accept the verdict of the market

outcome, the decision whether to adopt an innovation is likely to be resisted” (p. 11).
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References

Mokyr, J. (1998). The Political Economy of Technological Change: Resistance and Innovation in

Economic History. In M. Berg, & K. Bruland (Eds.), Technological Revolutions in Europe

(pp. 39-64). Edward Elgar Publishers.

National Academy of Engineering. 2018. Autonomy on Land and Sea and in the Air and Space:

Proceedings of a Forum. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi:

https://doi.org/10.17226/25168.

National Institute of Food and Agriculture. (n.d.). Retrieved October 07, 2020, from

https://nifa.usda.gov/topic/agriculture-technology.

Patricia A. Daly, “Agricultural Employment: Has the Decline Ended?” Monthly Labor Review,

November 1981. Retrieved October 07, 2020, from

(http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/1981/11/art2full.pdf).

Scarcity. (n.d.). Retrieved October 07, 2020, from

https://www.econlib.org/library/Topics/College/scarcity.html.

Skidelsky, R., Blais, S., Rech, H., Nguyen, N., King, D., Friesen, P., . . . Kamath, P. (2019,

September 18). The Economic Consequences of Automation by Robert Skidelsky.

Retrieved October 07, 2020, from https://www.project-

syndicate.org/commentary/automation-impact-jobs-unemployment-by-robert-skidelsky-

2019-09.