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About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 2017)
Human workers becoming obsolete CAN TECHNOLOGY REPLACE PEOPLE IN THE WORKPLACE? STORY AND PHOTO BY COLLIN BEREND Technology is m oving fast. How much A s college students, longer u n til artificial in telligen ce w ill m an y o f us have be teach in g stud ents? W h ile th is can w o rk e d a jo b , either in the past be scoffed a t, per M oore’ s Law, such or currently, some technology w ill eventually be so cheap that 10 AI professors and instructors Could more than others. cost a single instructor’ s salary. Faculty m em bers W h at jo b s w ill be Safe fro m robot have lik ely worked previous jobs as well. But takeover? Jobs that only humans could do, all of these positions are at potential risk. A computer would be a horrible pick for football, So those positions w ill be open. It’ s the year 2017, and we are at the But what about singing? Sorry, aspiring crux o f a new generation: not in calendar years or generation o f offsp ring, but a vocalists, Japan already has you covered. te ch n o lo g ica l age. A rev o lu tio n . For In Japan, a computer is famous for singing com p uters, their age o f reason is ju st on stage, w ith an en tirely com puter generated voice. At concerts, the crowd around the corner. is presented with a hologram rather than For e x a m p le , m ech a n ics or th o se studying to do auto bodywork could easily a performer. M ichael Jackson and Tupac be replaced by machines. It wouldn’t take have received a similar treatm ent since much effort to create a computer capable their deaths. Acting? For those who haven’t seen or o f doing repairs; and a m achine would be faster, more efficient, elim inate sick heard anything on Star Wars: Rogue One, days and holidays and be available 24/7. It they brought the dead back with computer generated effects that make it almost hard would only require, atthe most basic level, an ability to be aware of the surrounding | to tell the difference. Since Warcraft and Rogue One came out, inquiry has sprouted enough to diagnose the situation. about how this will affect actors who can just be resurrected or be used with their faces in a computer database. Austin Parrish, a Clackamas student and . vice president of the Science, Technology, Engineering and M athem atics Club or STEM , understands w here such fears come into play. He asserted that this is also a good th in g and that part o f the STEM club’s purpose is toencourage being more open and accepting o f it. “ They were primarily used by geeks,” Parrish explained o f using cellphones to W h ile th is seem s fa rfe tch e d now , speak about the rising in technological consider how far w e’ve com e. We have advances. “ Now everyone is on their touch screen phones connected to the phone.” . in te rn e t and send in g m essages w ith “ It is surprising how fa st things are others in other countries in seconds, ear pieces that translate almost any language, ch anging,” said Carol DeSau, bookstore artificial intelligence that works as a desk director. DeSau touched on how she was receptionist and even com puters that told that, with technology, the bookstore w rite articles. W e already have s e lf would eventually be paperless. For students, these jobs help pay for checkou t registers, and that w ill only school; and some rely on it to pay bills,, improve. for their kids to eat and be warm. Even In the 1980s, a car like the one from the most mundane, low-skilled job being K night Rider or driverless cars seemed surreal, but now are a reality. Driverless replaced could have adverse effects on the denizens. Some malls have Closed due to ears were displayed in Las Vegas recently. “ They were prim arily used b y g e e ks. . . n o w everyone is on their p h o n e .” - Austin Parrish 4 ClackamasPrint FEBRUARY 1,2017 theclaekamasprintcom A server mainframe located in the Streeter Anex is utilized by the Networking 151 class as a hands on lab for Cisco. less traffic. A m azon is growing, w hich makes online shopping easier. “ Now at McDonald’ s they have places that have kiosks that cooks its for you,” said A m ber W righ t, a m em ber o f the Associated Student Governm ent. “ That actually kind o f worries me as a future employee. W hat if all my jobs are turned into computers, how will I make money?” W h ile th is problem m ay seem like nothing for some, it is a big one for others. Perhaps we should carefully examine what we w ill do. W hile technology is great, how does it affect us as hum ans, or our economy? Our jobs?
