Automation in the Workplace

Are humans innovating themselves into redundancy?  Activities such as speech and writing, once thought to be distinctly human, are now subject to automation. About 60 percent of occupations could have 30 percent or more of their constituent activities automated. This explosion of new automation technologies have effectively offset demand for low-skilled, low-wage workers, particularly in manufacturing. If we are to understand how best to navigate this restructuring of labor and maximize the promise of automation in the decades to come, we must not only study the technologies that will deliver these changes, but also the people whose lives they will inevitably impact. What are their fears and perceptions regarding automation? How do we square that with the many studies and recommendations from experts on the topic? With the right approach to these questions, we can develop the language necessary for connecting different stakeholders – from various social, political, and economic institutions – in developing the best policies for adopting and employing automation in the workplace.

This website catalogs and summarizes the documents produced for Georgia Tech’s LMC 3412: Communicating Science and Technology to the Public with Dr. Rebecca Burnett. The objective of creating these documents is to hone my skills in practicing effective communication to a non-expert audience through the following mediums: Podcast, White Paper, Infographic, Pamphlet, Interactive Visualization. The topic of  automation is an interesting and important topic and I hope you enjoy exploring the material here. 

Podcast

Podcasts have the ability to reach a broad audience in a more passive way compared to books or lectures. The user can engage at-will and doesn’t feel captive. Before creating the podcast, I listed a variety of ways that I wanted to reach a general audience:

• Have a stance and defend it when necessary, but be flexible

• Speak loudly and confidently

• Present your content with excitement

• Add humor

• Appeal to the pathos: Present to content compellingly

• Add a layman/expert dialogue to help the listener understand to content

• Relate the content to real world examples

I created this podcast as a compliment to the white paper. The paper covers details about automation at a high-level while the podcast focuses in on the actual automation technologies in a more relatable way while making a connection to the broader topic.

White Paper

My approach for the paper was to detail the technologies behind automation: artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics, control theory, etc. and give a brief history and overview of the technology itself. Once a foundational understanding of automation was established, I detailed the influence of automation on society, the economy, and in politics. I then concluded the paper by detailing the misconceptions regarding automation and highlighting why these misconceptions can ultimately be dangerous.

My initial concern when starting this project was achieving the right scope. Since automation is a burgeoning topic with a great deal of research and interest behind it, narrowing down on the right sources with the right message was a bit challenging for me. I made sure to include sources in academia, government, popular media, and from opposing viewpoints.

As far as the topic itself, I was surprised to find how much angst was behind the outsourcing of jobs, but not so much the automation of jobs, even though studies show that it has (and will continue to) cost many people their jobs since the 70’s/80’s. I found that much of this misplaced frustration by the public seems to have been directed through political means and could be, at least somewhat, attributed to the public’s lack of understanding of things like artificial intelligence and robotics and other esoteric subjects that don’t appeal to a broad audience.

Download the paper

Infograph

As I highlighted in the paper and podcast, the most interesting and important takeaways that I got from my research was the impact that automation could have on low-wage workers and the misplaced outrage directed at offshoring due to trade policies. I sought to continue that message in this infographic. I highlight the threat that automation poses on a large percentage of current job roles and point out the lack of concern that people have regarding this trend.

Pamphlet

I was inspired to create a pamphlet because of other pamphlets that I’d seen from union groups and non-profits that sought to educate and engage a general audience on worker’s rights. These types of communications are directly aimed at working class people who are most effected by automation and are used to persuade people to exercise their voting power and spark discussion.

Interactive Visualization

Interactive visualizations, like podcasts, are a good way of allowing the audience to engage on their own accord. There are several stories that can be ascertained from playing around with a single visualization and this gives users to operate on their own biases without necessarily confirming them. This artifact was aimed at policymakers or those who might be interested in engaging in exploratory data analysis of this topic. This visualization was created with javascript using d3.js.

Link to Github

Reflections

The overarching theme in my research on this topic is that if AI was better understood, perhaps more energy from the public would be directed towards the poorly managed push for automation that has already had an impact on people’s lives. The fallout from the Great Recession should have been an indication that policies for protecting workers are inadequate and will be increasingly so as the adoption of automation technologies increases. There is clearly some miscommunication between experts and non-experts when it comes to understanding automation. Experts who have a more realistic and complete understanding of automation should take it upon themselves to communicate what it is and what it could mean in real terms to people who have lost their jobs or are feeling left out. Then, political discussions, inspired by the sunlight of informed debate can yield more sustainable and intelligent policies with better outcomes.