Joshua Browder, a 19 year old programer, has created bot to help you appeal your parking tickets in the UK. Visiting the website, the bot will prompt you will easy questions to get a handle on the situation. It will then start to ask more specific questions to try to figure out if there was something that could make your fine be appealed. It will then create you an appeal letter which you can print out, sign, and send to court. This process has apparently successfully appealed 3 million dollars worth of parking tickets. An impressive number to boast, but is there any concern with this automated attorney?
It is safe to say that lawyers should not be afraid of losing their jobs to automated bots like Joshua's. Bots like this one only are able to perform simple jobs like this. They can file a claim, but they can't pick up a case and argue it for a client in court. This leads us on an interesting topic though, is there jobs that are being threaten by automated methods of technology?
In the past, there has been many applications of technology that has significantly reduced the amount of manpower needed. Some that come to my mind right away include farming with the use of massive machines, and factories with automated assembly lines. One of the next jobs that could be automated is driving.
With the recent boom in self driving cars, jobs like taxi drivers, truck drivers, and bus drivers could be threatened. Recent tests have proven that self driving cars are safe out on the road, but that doesn't mean that everyone will accept that. For automated driving to become an everyday thing, first everyone has to accept it. I know that many people already resent the ever increasing power of technology, and would be deathly afraid at the thought of a fleet of self driving cars out on the streets. There are other people who are just concerned at the thought of computer driven cars. There are dangers, but with time comes improvement. This technology has been developed for over 10 years, and continues to improve.
To me, I almost would trust a computer of a human driver. A computer is never distracted. A computer is never tempted to look down or away because of a cell phone. A computer wouldn't turn around to scold their noisy children. A computer solves all these human problems that create thousands of accidents every day.
The application of automated driving will need more time to be transferred to a truck or bus, but if the public accepts the idea of the upcoming self driving fleet, the process is sure to speed up, with companies looking to increase their profits from running these operations.
Another area threatened by automation is currently underway of getting replaced. With the recent cry for increased minimum wage, and the response to increase in, food chains like McDonald's who have to comply with these new laws, have simply replaced the man with a machine instead of increasing their pay. They have started to introduce automated cashiers that will take your order and send it back to the kitchen. In a way, this is a much more efficient way of handling the hordes of hungry who are eager to get their Big Mac. Once over the initial investment of touchscreens and computers, these machines will easily save McDonald's a large sum.
The replacement of jobs isn't a complete terror of the night, as it also creates many new jobs. Machines need to first be created. Code has to be written. The machine has to be installed. Afterwards, the machine has to maintained and eventually updated. It creates a whole new job market that needs to be filled by people with talent. Programmers, designers, manufacturers, IT staff are all required in this continuous process of automation.
721
No comments:
Post a Comment