The Implications of Digitisation and Automation
Since the industrial revolution of the mid 1700s and the centuries that have followed, the automation of manual labour has increased exponentially. ‘Disruptive technologies’ are “innovations that create a new market or that enter at the bottom of an existing market by providing a different set of values, which ultimately (and unexpectedly) overtakes incumbents.” Labour moved quickly from households to factories and marked the beginning of market capitalism. The first industrial revolution saw the development of machinery to utilise water power and steam power efficiently for example. What followed was mass production and distribution of machinery, eventually the invention of computers and automation and more recently, cyber physical systems. It’s theorised that Industry 4.0 will be the product of: “people, data and, machines.”
Recent statistics show that in 2020, the world population of almost 8 billion people generated over “2.5 quintillion bytes of data every single day”. This data is generated from every click, swipe or general online interaction provides data for companies to use to generate algorithms in order to develop business strategy and ultimately create profit. These companies harvest and analyse these large swathes of data using Artificial Intelligence (AI), because whilst a human could not even begin to process these large numbers — a computer deals with this effortlessly. The amount of households worldwide that use AI is incredible. From smart phones, to wireless speakers, fitness watches, alarm systems, kitchen appliances, home assistant devices and cars for example — it seems that digitisation and automation of everyday life is pervasive and unavoidable.
Data and algorithms dictate what users view online by helping to personalise each person’ consumption. An example of this that I find both fascinating and somewhat scary is the use of algorithm technology on apps such as Instagram and TikTok. After viewing content for short periods of time, the app generates a personal algorithm which fills my homepage with content that it has worked out I will enjoy. The accuracy rates on TikTok more specifically are incredibly high consistently. It greatly shortens the amount of time spent looking for content to watch and thus increases the time spent on the app, which subsequently harvests more and more data to hone the algorithm.
Whilst the ease and accessibility is commendable, I can’t help but feel that my use of such technologies has become mindless and apathetic. I am simultaneously exposed to a whole world of internet, and strategically fed personalised information that a computer has found for me, and the combination of the two is both addictive and exhausting. It also makes me question the risk of providing such large companies with such vast amounts of data. Whilst the blockchain protects personal security and mitigates against security hacks, it is the authorised handing over of data that stirs concerns of a so-called ‘surveillance state’. Following the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, an increase in surveillance technology was seen around the country in order to protect citizens however many saw it as an infringement on their rights and an attempt to control the population and therefore failed to serve the citizens. A smart city in South Korea called Songdo is a good example of a failed smart city. Run on city wide networks and built sustainably with citizens ease of life at the forefront, the project failed to take into account people’s relationships with the city and each other. This was its downfall and goes to show that whilst AI and smart technology can be utilised, it can go too far when it fails to recognise the innate humanity within a community and wider society.
However there are obvious and compelling reasons to incorporate automation and AI into our everyday lives such as the advantages of industrial automation. For example automation has seen to increase production and productivity rates, The consistency of output is higher than that of a human (less mistakes are made) which overall means that better quality products are more frequently produced. The materials used more efficiently, there is less human risk factor involved, and less human labour workers are required which reduces workweeks for humans and reduces the cost of employing a labour-force therefore creating profit for business owners.
On the other hand, ethical questions are raised about the rise of AI and technology in the workplace. Studies have found that industrial robots have negatively effected jobs and wages. “It’s estimated that approximately 50% of all individual activities in the workforce could be fully automated, which represents $15 trillion in salaries.” The displacement effect is seeing human workforces pushed out of jobs in place of cheaper and more efficient robots or other forms of automation. Statistics show that “adding one robot to a geographic area reduces employment in that area by six workers.” These workers primarily include ‘low-skilled’ professions such as manual labour, manufacturing, retail and hospitality. However it is important to note that it is still necessary to have human overseers of these technologies. As of yet, AI is yet to be fully autonomous without some human involvement and a combination of both AI and human capabilities is the most effective.
An interesting take on automation comes from left-wing political thinker Aaron Bastani. The mainstream message is that ‘robots are taking our jobs’, but the futurist left do not see this as a pitfall. Fully automated luxury communism (FALC) should see that the rapid changes to the workforce will allow workers the opportunity to live in a “post-work society, where machines do the heavy lifting not for profit but for the people.” Trends show that there is a stagnation in wages and rates of employability are on the rise and UK jobs face being automated at a rate of 35%. This theory for future workforces could see that most of the disadvantages of an automated workforce can be utilised to benefit the average worker. Although this is evidence of very utopian thought, it’s easy to see how seizing the means of production could benefit many as neatly put by Bastani — “It’s about seizing the bakery rather than stealing the bread.” With robots presumably kneading the dough.”
Self reflection
Studying this digital society module has been so valuable to me as both a digital citizen but also as a second year student who really wanted to branch out beyond their psychology degree. I’ll admit that I didn’t have much of an interest in technology or the digital world before this course, and so I chose this module to change that, and because although previously a little disinterested I was still acutely aware of how important and pervasive of a force the world of the internet and digital society is. Every weeks’ content has been something I’ve always seen touched on and have never sough to find out more, and I’m so glad i’ve been able to explore each topic in so much depth and in such an interesting and read-worthy style. As with a lot of others from the course as I can see from the interactive elements of the lessons, I really enjoyed the Smart cities topic. I thought that the city of Songdo was such a fascinating feature that demonstrated the failures of the relationship between capitalism and humanity bittersweetly.
I’ve really enjoyed being able to write again with a bit of a freedom to voice personal opinions and use my authentic voice rather than conforming to the formal tone of academic essays. I think medium is a really great platform because of its accessibility. My university email has been somewhat spammed with emails from medium, which I was initially a little irritated by — until I got into the habit of picking a blog/story to read each day rather that ignoring them. Having learnt about the detrimental effects of social media and the internet on mental health and wellbeing, and now being aware of how complex the digital world really is, its nice to use my knowledge to avoid the doom-scrolling of social media sites that harvest my information for the likes of free market capitalism, and instead start my day with informative and substantial articles I find on this site. The week-9 blog was particularly interesting to me. I know that becoming more digitally literate and capable is essential to many future careers, but it really hit home about the fact that I should be aware of how easily automated my future might be and that I should prepare myself with the view to gain skills that a robot will not be able to replicate to the level of a human. I would have never thought that that concept would be delivered in university teaching but it’s really cool to me how forward thinking this module and its creators really are.
