Do Robots Improve or Reduce Productivity? A Comparative Case Study

In the past several decades, artificial intelligence and robotics has played a vital role in the improvements in technology and led to a surge in public interest. As the figures from the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) show, sales of robots are increasing year-on-year, with a 15% increase in 2015 over the previous year. The IFR estimates that over 2.5 million industrial robots will be at work in 2019, representing an average annual growth rate of 12% between 2016 and 2019 (International Federation of Robotics 2016). Many companies are “experiencing a wave of robot-related optimism and investment” because of the deliverables of productivity and growth. On the other hand, the robotics has a strong potential to adversely affect the individual worker, especially the fear of the impact of automation. IFR (2016) stated that “these fears are tied into broader geo-political and social shifts driven by issues such as trade policy and immigration that, overall, contribute to a sense of insecurity about the employment prospects of current and future generations.” I will draw upon the impact of automation — including robotics — on human jobs that are likely to be replaced or at risk of being automated. However, automation should not be viewed completely negative, in fact, it has a substantial number of positive contributions to productivity, competitiveness, and job creation. Despite concerning of the jobs at risk of being automated, it’s a right time for large governments and institutions to consider the possibility of adopting Universal Basic Income (UBI) as a longer-term solution for all.

The rapid improvements in technology start to become a nightmare for the individual worker, transforming the way we work to make the jobs easier but at the same time eliminating the demand on human workers altogether. The McKinsey Global Institute (2017) warned that “as many as 375 million workers will need to switch occupational categories by 2030 due to automation.” The findings were like a study carried out by Deloitte and the University of Oxford in 2014 whose prediction was “35% of the jobs we do today in the UK could go to robots by 2034”. Harris (2018) said certain jobs like Switchboard Operator, Lift Operator, and Bridge Toll Collector etc. are such examples that robotics are performing a much better job than humans…