Technology, despite its many advantages, is seen as a threat by some of us. I’m sure the thought of intelligent machines taking over some of the jobs that we do now have come across our minds at one point or another.
At a recent Semicon Southeast Asia exhibition in Kuala Lumpur, I got to see what new technology can do and its effect on workers and companies. The exhibition, which showcases the concept and workings of smart manufacturing, gives an idea of how we (humans) are moving forward together with technology advancement into the next era of manufacturing.
As machines are now able to be fed with data and have artificial intelligence built in them, they can now perform what humans could do before. The production lines in a factory, for example, are replaced with robotic arms with less humans on the production floor. The machines or robots are doing repetitive tasks, which were once performed by humans, and they can operate around the clock with almost zero error. On the floor, there are robots that move around collecting the completed tasks or products and bring them to another place for another process.
These are all possible now with the power of the Internet of Things (IoT), computers, data and cloud computing. For manufacturers, this move will increase their production capability with better quality of product finishing, while saving on costs in the long term. Besides that, the handling of sensitive and expensive components can also be done in a safer manner.
According to market research company IDC, worldwide technology spending on the IoT is expected to reach US$1.2 trillion (RM5.03 trillion) in 2022, and from a total spending perspective, discrete manufacturing and transportation will each exceed US$150 billion in spending in 2022, making these the two largest industries for IoT spending.
(Discrete manufacturing is an industry term for the manufacturing of finished products that are distinct items capable of being easily counted, touched or seen, such as cars, furniture, toys, smartphones and airplanes.)
The market for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) products and services is also expected to grow to US$310 billion by 2023. This forecast is based on six core building blocks (hardware, connectivity, cloud platform and analytics, applications, cybersecurity and system integration) and six supporting technologies (additive manufacturing — 3D printing, augmented and virtual reality, collaborative robots, connected machine vision, drones/ unmanned aerial vehicle (UAVs) and self-driving vehicles).
This signals that there will be a lot of investment coming from the manufacturing industry as it moves forward. However, for the people who work at the assembly line, the thought or fear of being jobless may cross their mind. Take comfort though, that it will not be as some had imagined.
Many experts believe that this will just be a shift in the manufacturing landscape. Whether we like it or not, machines (as they get “smarter” and more connected) will take over some of the jobs someday. This is why the reskilling of workers is needed — learning new skills for other jobs in the manufacturing process. On the bright side, this could mean better incomes and higher standard of living for the workers as they move up the value chain.
New skills are needed to do the new job scope given birth by the adoption of machines and robots. If we look back to when the banking industry first introduced automated teller machines (ATMs) in the 1970s, many thought the concept of withdrawing money from a hole in the wall would end the job of bank tellers, and they would be jobless.
But instead, people got re-skilled to do new jobs in the bank — the ATM revolution gave birth to new opportunities and the self-banking culture.
And today with digital revolution taking over the banking system, people are gaining more benefits from this transformation and the banks have the opportunities to roll out new things and services such as mobile apps, electronic bill payment and online products. This has also resulted in jobs in these new areas of banking services.
Machines taking over some of our jobs? Yes, some mundane and repetitive jobs will cease to exist, but there will be new jobs — just like in the banking industry.
As humans, we are excellent at surviving and adapting to changes and there’s no better time than now to embrace 4IR along with its challenges. Innovation will make us more productive. Despite the machines being “clever” and efficient and being able to do things we used to do, their existence opens up a new horizon for us.
The writer is Tech Editor of ‘The New Straits Times’ and has 25 years of experience covering and writing technology stuff in the consumer, enterprise and emerging technology space