Forums » KHC Inspiration

HUMAN JOBS IN THE HANDS OF ROBOTS?

    • Moderator
    • 10 posts
    March 1, 2017 4:22 PM CET
    WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF THIS WERE TO HAPPEN TO YOUR PROFESSION?

    During the industrial revolution machines took over jobs from humans and later expanded our capacity to accommodate more humans into these industries. And now in the information age history is back again to haunt employees in most sectors of various economies, as robots are warming up to the challenge of displacing the human workforce.

    Just recently Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates came up with a brilliant idea of robots paying a kind of income tax, if allowed to displace the human workforce; which I believe would become a policy in the right direction to be adopted ASAP.

    Years back in my high school days, I saw the Class 1999 movie, where robots were employed to replace teachers who could no longer handle students that had converted their school into a stronghold for gangsters. The robots brought extreme order in chaos and the result was the extermination of non-compliant students by the robots that had gone out of the programming control of the authorities.

    A list of twenty employments that are now almost in the hands of robots include: 1. Chefs

    2. Surgeons

    3. Factory workers.

    4. Retail sales associates

    5. Security guards

    6. Shepherds

    7. Farmers

    8. Pharmacists

    9. Home delivery services

    10. Journalists

    11. Soldiers

    12. Receptionists

    13. Telephone sale persons

    14. Construction workers.

    15. Accountants

    16. Tour guide

    17. Mixologists

    18. Barmen

    19. Librarians

    20. Hospital administrators

    21. Teachers (Humanoid called Pepper etc)

    Wait a minute. Teachers to be replaced by robots? That would be the most interesting invention of all times. For one thing, the possibilities are endless, but for another it would be disruptive and much more derogatory to put the future of our children in the hands of robots.

    I do not mind getting facts, figures and statistics from machines, but insight, instinct and intuition can never be programmed into a computer, which makes teaching and learning the sole intellectual property of the human soul.

    Education at its core is psychological exchange process between humans which cannot be replicated into computer codes. Humans and robots learn, but humans learn better via emotional intelligence and other unique methods still beyond the reach of machines. The humanoid Pepper for example is being programmed to reach humans on emotional level with the use of sensors etc.

    Definitely a milestone in technology but a scientific deceit, which if possible would only expand our human capacity, because we would come to a point were politicians become robots and robots would be made to vote without human intervention because the generation of humans were taught by robots; because humans condescended to thinking like robots instead of humans (divine beings).

    If I had my teaching job handed over to a robot, then I am open to more newer opportunities in the field of robotics as programmer, engineer/technician, simulation designer, robot trainer etc. meaning for every human labour being displaced by a robot three to four opportunities are opened to humans who are quick to make the necessary adjustments.

    Though it is very condescending for humans to revert thinking like machines, like expecting God to think like humans. These are ten reasons robots can never effectively teach humans:

    1. Deep learning: At the heart of deep learning is soul searching, a point where a subject matter inspires learners to reach beyond the stars; which is impossible to interpret into machine languages.

    2. Inspired teaching: The application of robotics and artificial intelligence really inspires humans to think of possible applications of machines. It is natural to believe in the abilities of humans to champion the future, but how would you imagine a scenario were humans getting into a frantic effort to design a machine that would lead us into the future. Teacher are trained to inspire learners and inspiration cannot be programmed into artificial intelligence. Soul winning is only available to humans during an inspired teaching.

    3. Core skills: These are skills (collaboration, critical thinking, imagination, creativity etc) necessary for today’s learners to adopt future responsibilities. In our dispensation, our creations are as a result of harnessing our core skills, which we are not yet able to create a machine code for, at the moment. We are not yet empowered to create anything that can be better than us humans. If we did, then the truth about creationism would fail.

    4. Emotional Intelligence: This is way beyond human DNA programming, because there are hundreds and thousands of actions and reactions in classrooms, that is only psychological possible to discern and analyse. Some emotions (intuition/imagination) cannot be programmed into machines because it is more than just facial recognition and x-ray vision systems. Emotions cannot be translated into sensors or codes, because we still are not able to comprehend the facts about why we act in certain ways.

    5. Human Interactions: Getting intimate understanding of someone is more than just information science. How do you love a robot as a teacher? Remember, students learn from teachers they like or love and that is an intimacy beyond the current and future state of artificial intelligence. Robotics and other forms of information communication can only be used to enhance or speed up human communications from a distance.

    6. Smart Learners: Every now and then, teachers come across students who are very manipulative and emotionally more superior than some of their teachers, which leave these students as natural masters of their class; though the teachers are professionally in charge. How much easier would it be for an entire class to put robots in a situation that only trained humans can intervene and maintain.

    7. Classroom management: This is a complex process with endless human possibilities. At the very core classroom management is a creative, scientific and psychological process which can never be replicated into the artificial intelligence of robots.

    8. Psychomotor skills: These skills are taught based on instinctive observation of a learner’s responses to an activity. The adaptive imagination of a teacher comes into action and the source codes for such expertise is not yet in existence.

    9. Guidance and Counseling: Robots can be designed to draw inference based on pre-programmed possibilities. Personal experiences are unique to humans and cannot be transferred into machines. The strength of guidance and counseling are based on human experiences that are peculiar to us. It is a dynamic process and not a fixed set of rules that can be written as an algorithm for artificial intelligence projects.

    10. The soul: If humans can create souls then there might be a chance for machines to rule the world. Probably if humans can invoke demons into machines then the possibilities might increase. In the classroom teachers are not just trained to reach learners at intellectual or mental level, but also teachers further develop their capacities personally to reach learners at levels of the heart. This process is not available in textbooks or taught at teachers training colleges; because it goes beyond the activities of the body into the intuitive realm of the soul.

    Mind you before teaching became a profession, it was first a spiritual gift, which is still not fathomed by humans. It is obvious that some people are natural teachers and need less training processes and make more impact on learners compared to graduates of our man-made institutions for training professional teachers.

    I would immediately withdraw my child from any school that insist on using robots to replace teachers. And if all schools available used robots, then I have the best option to home-school my child. But for a scenario were a school enhances the ability of teachers to use robotics in the classroom, then it is still a progressive effort in education.

    Employees around the world seem to be now under threat once more by robots that are warming up to take over every available human labour on the planet, leaving us at the mercy of fate. Definitely, like the industrial revolution a new season is on the rise that would restructure the human capacity seven folds; helping majority of the human populace to reshuffle and reacquire new skill-sets that would make us more suitable for reemployment in upcoming workplaces.

    Technology will always remain a tool for teachers, irrespective of the imaginative possibilities of robots taking over the world. The heart of every human learner can only be reached by an inspired teacher, who takes time to understand the psychological dynamics of learners in specific or diverse subject matters.

    My suggestions? Acquire more skills, diversify your tentacles, establish more than one stream of income and make yourself indispensable in your field of profession. Be informed and updated in the latest discovery in your field. If you are a teacher, get other international certifications that will increase your value and earning power. If you are an engineer, there are so many engineering certifications, short courses that you can do. Find out and go for them one after the other. You will not be expelled in your field, amen.


    .....First written by Ashiedu Jude, edited by Adeniji Olusegun.