As highly beneficial advancing technology is for mankind, there are always counter arguments as to why and how machine learning and advancement might impact our lives negatively. One of the main arguments against the integration of advanced technology in our lives has to do with the job market, as machines are better and less expensive (in the long-run) than human employees, therefore endangering future job security. In fact, human workers have admittedly found themselves in an increasingly disadvantageous position, as machines are faster, cheaper, and longer-lasting. Unemployment is the direct result of machines replacing humans in the workforce, threatening the financial stability of middle-class workers and their families. “[E]ach additional robot added in manufacturing replaced about 3.3 workers nationally...” stresses MIT, adding, “In commuting zones where robots were added to the workforce, each robot replaces about 6.6 jobs . . . [h]owever . . . adding robots in manufacturing benefits people in other industries and other areas of the country — by lowering the cost of goods [and services]...” While robots may be taking-over the job market and eliminating potentially lucrative jobs for the middle-class, products are becoming more affordable for the average consumer. This, however, does not cancel-out the devastating reality of growing income inequality, the BBC has a less pessimistic view economy-wise though, stating, “At a global level, jobs will be created at the rate they are destroyed.”
The wellbeing of the middle-class can arguably be controlled by the government, through job innovation—meaning, finding newer, safer, and more skilled jobs for the middle-class to transition to. Although workers’ financial wellbeing may appear to be in grave danger, the emergence of faster and more accurate machinery in jobs may actually improve workplace conditions for everyone; injuries in factories, for instance, are unfortunately considered a well-known risk for many workers around the world. Working conditions in factories—regardless of what is being produced—can always be improved upon. Sweatshops are a choice example of hazardous and generally abhorrent work environments where workers typically work long for extraordinarily low wages; there is a great opportunity for advanced technology to put an end to sweatshops, freeing citizens of developing countries from unreasonable working conditions. “Eventually, robotic technology — once it becomes cheap enough, of course — won’t just take the jobs of well-paid union workers who clock-in at air-conditioned manufacturing centers, but also the far more painful work of the thousands who spend their lives in sweatshops,” suggests Graham Templeton from Inverse. The potential for machines to stifle the demand for dangerous, low-paying jobs may finally solve the ongoing issue of sweatshops and improve the safety and wellbeing of workers who have been neglected and overlooked for far too long. Ethically speaking, this promotes a more humane, well-paying workforce with more room available for jobs which demand creativity and intelligence. Moreover, the uptick of robots and specialized technology in low-paying labor could result in less of a need to work in general, enabling people from all walks of life to have more time off from their jobs—enabling the average individual to spend more quality time with family and friends.