An article in technology section in my local paper about the new ATM’s have me thinking about the way we humans are striving to replace ourselves. What is the reason we want to replace people like bank tellers and cashiers? Now do not get me wrong I am love technology. I mean I am writing this on my laptop that is connected to my wireless network that I have three other computer systems hooked up to. I have full digital cable and if I had the money I would have a wall mount plasma HDTV. I love technology but I want technology I control.
I went to the famous W-mart store the other day and there are eight self serve lines and they had people waiting to use them, while there were two cashiers with no one in line. I went to the cashier and asked if this happened often? She replied “not often but it does happen.” I could not help think about replacing six cashiers with computers. It only takes one person to run four self serve stations. That would work out to a lot of profit for a store, no doubt about that and I use them myself. I found myself looking at the cashier and wondering does this lady feel obsolete or on the edge of a computer replacing her.
The article on the new type of bank ATM said that will act much like the self check out. My bank’s ATM takes checks but it is with a deposit slip and then it has to be verified by humans. This new ATM will not need human approval it will read as many checks as you want to put into it and process them instantly. It will have full capabilities for you to do anything you need to do at a bank short of robbery. There go those jobs and those people!
I read online that there is a robot in Japan that is a dance instructor. It reacts to slightest movements of its “partner” and responds accordingly. They have it sort of human looking, sort of. They are planning on making its mate also. Well there go dance instructors and even more human contact! Not that I dance but some people can and want to learn. I understand the need for progress and the replacement of dangerous jobs like those on the bomb squad but what I am really having a hard time with mans drive to replace our selves in every jobs.
Where are we heading? Maybe we will get lucky and soon we will walk into our doctor’s office and sign into a machine and then step into another machine and it will scan us and dispense some medication or maybe a screen will flash “BEND OVER”! I do not really believe in alien probes BUT we could make it happen, if we keep up! Not to mention, being a man do not even want to think about a machine saying tune your head and cough!!!!
I see technology as a water fall we can not stop the flow but I fear there is a nasty fall coming and that fall is not good for man. In the Bible there is story about all the people got together and wanted to build a tower to heaven. The wanted to be united as one and build this amazing thing, God said NO, it was too dangerous. They did not know how the atmosphere worked and many would have died. So I wonder if we are “all” working on creating artificial inelegant computer that is smarter than we are, if God will spare man from himself again or will God let us have our own way this time?
I like people, I like talking to people, I fear mans drive to improve our lives is leading to a place where normal working class people will have no place to work. If they have no place to work where will they get money? If they have no money how does society support them? We need to keep progressing but we need to do so with thought about others and their lives.
Why are we driven to replace ourselves? Why are we driven to create a life form with out feeling or compassion? Do we see ourselves as failures and inefficient? Are we losing the ability to have compassion and feelings ourselves? I really am not sure I want to answer these questions because I am afraid of the answer! The Matrix my never be fully real but if continue in the path we are heading then what are we doing to ourselves? Where are we heading? I think we are much like those in the story of the tower of Babel in the Bible we all agree on improving technology but with out knowing why or what dangers we face. We have other people out there thinking about this – See the Matrix, I-Robot, and AI for movie examples. We could create a technologically advanced world or poverty ridden people.
Let us think about all this the next time we turn on our TOM-TOM or On-Star, the next time we surf the web on our I-Phone while waiting in line. Think about this as we let our cars park them selves, as we check out our own stuff a W-Mart or say good morning to an ATM as we make a deposit. I love technology but I also love people and I think we need to progress with a purpose and that purpose should be to love and help fellow humans not replace them.
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