Focus on what can’t be done by machines

This editorial appeared in the New Glasgow (N.S.) News:

Those fears about one day being replaced by a machine have haunted humans for some time — and they aren’t about to go away.

Carolyn Wilkins, senior deputy governor with the Bank of Canada, mused about the pros and cons of technological advance and automation. In a recent speech she cautioned that although such change brings economic benefits, it also results in a steady drain of available jobs.

But longing for the good old days isn’t the answer. Wilkins in her speech added the reminder that blaming the machines isn’t the way forward.

When, centuries ago, our social fabric was largely woven from what had to be done on the farm, everybody who wanted work had something. But anyone who’s worked stacking bales in a hot, dusty haymow in mid-July will be thankful for the machines that took that job away.

Consumer preferences have always played a part, too. We might complain about the big banks getting rid of employees. But once they put in automated tellers, a lot of people stopped lining up at the wickets.

The dilemma of losing traditional occupations has industry analysts and governments placing ever-higher stakes on research and development and on hightech industries to fan the economy.

It sounds good, a brave way forward, but we have to remember that boosting techno-innovation and artificial intelligence will only hand more of the jobs people used to do to machines, to computers, to robots. It sounds dire. But as more emphasis in education and training is placed on technological advance, what needs to be included is a fresh look at what can’t be done by machines or computers.