In recent years, more and more technology is becoming automated. But why? Is it for efficiency or is it politically motivated to save big business money and increase profits? Every Walmart, Target, and even some fast food restaurants have self-checkout registers. These check out systems eliminate the need for multiple employees and ultimately save businesses thousands of dollars each year. Instead of needing to have 12 employees to occupy 12 open registers, only one employee is needed to oversee all 12.
Two weeks ago, I had my spleen removed at NYU Hospital in New York at the newly designed Kimmel Pavilion. The building was erected in 2018 and was intentionally designed and equipped with state-of-the-art technology to improve patient care and recovery. Although I never saw any robots during my two night stay in the Kimmel Building, NYU claims to have a "fleet of robots" in the Kimmel Pavilion that are able to perform housekeeping and custodial tasks. These robots can be used to free up time so medical professionals can spend more time with patients and less time performing menial tasks.
Automated processes offer many benefits to both physicians and patients. But how do these changes affect the people whose jobs are being eliminated? How will they or are they already affecting our society? NYU (2018) reports that the purpose of all these new technological advances in the Kimmel Pavillion are to benefit the patient by decreasing infection, improving recovery time, and allowing doctors and nurses to have more time with patients. But at what cost to entry level employees?
Similar to the way in which cashier positions are disappearing at both Walmart and Target, NYU is using robots to fill what could be the lowest paying jobs in the hospital. Before long, this technology may be implemented at places such as hotels, airports, and shopping malls. Many low-income families rely on these types of positions as one, if not the only, source of income for their families. As these positions are taken over by technology, are new entry level positions being created? I can’t help but wonder in the long term, what will become of low-income families as these jobs disappear. How will they survive?
According to Winner (1986), technology has been used for political gain for many years. Though it may not have been the intended effect to eliminate low paying positions and replace them with automated technology, I believe we are going to see more and more positions replaced by robots and self-check-out type systems. Initially, when I scheduled my surgery, I thought I was having a standard laparoscopic procedure. However, the more I talked to people at NYU prior to my surgery, the more I heard the emphasized word “robotic” splenectomy. Wait, did you just say robotic? What does that even mean? Robots are performing surgeries now?! All I could envision was something out of an 80s sci-fi movie or the Jettsons' housekeeper Rosie standing beside the operating table tossing body parts over her shoulder. However, robotic procedures are very similar to laparoscopic procedures with basically one exception. The surgeon’s hands don’t have to be on the tools performing the surgery. The surgeon doesn’t necessarily have to be in the room, in the building, or even in the country for that matter. Robotic surgeries can be performed by a surgeon sitting at a computer anywhere in the world.
This opens doors for possibilities that we can’t even imagine at this time. Potentially, a robot could be shipped to a remote location in Cambodia and surgery could be performed by a surgeon in New York City. It is amazing to think about the potential global possibilities and benefits of using robotic technology. A logical next step for a hospital robot that empties the trash may be to have a robot going from room to room checking patient’s vital signs. But I do have to wonder, what the fallout will be as we work out the kinks in this newly developing technology. What happens if something goes wrong during the surgical procedure in Cambodia? Does the New York Surgeon talk someone through finishing the procedure by hand?
Whatever the intended effect of implementing automated technology in our society, society will have to adjust. This means low income families that typically apply to work in cashier, housekeeping, and custodial positions may eventually have to seek out a completely different industry. While I don’t think the industry will disappear entirely in the coming years there will be less and less of these types of positions available. The robots themselves can not be blamed for participating in politics. However, the emergence of robots filling low wage positions is a political maneuver by big business to change the face (pun intended) of low wage positions.
References:
Winner, L. (1986). The whale and the reactor: a search for limits in an age of high technology. Chicago, University of Chicago Press
https://lehmanmeridian.squarespace.com/articles/2018/5/11/targets-self-checkout-system-frustrates-workers-and-customers
http://www.newcastle-hospitals.org.uk/news/news-item-21853.aspx
https://nypost.com/2018/03/12/how-terrible-trips-to-the-hospital-are-getting-better/
https://nyulangone.org/locations/kimmel-pavilion
https://nyulangone.org/locations/robotic-surgery-center
https://nyulangone.org/press-releases/nyu-langone-opens-state-of-the-art-hospital-pavilion-with-citys-newest-pediatric-hospital-facility-in-15-years
https://thriving.childrenshospital.org/our-patients-stories-using-medical-robots-at-home/
https://yellrobot.com/robots-in-hospitals/
https://youtu.be/CVqAPK9f3R4
Hello Rebekah,
I think you raise some interesting concerns about new technology. I would argue, though, that almost every new technology has led to different and new job possibilities. I think we can all probably remember what a panic there was around journalism when the market for hard copies of magazines and newspapers decreased with the advent of the easily-accessible internet. Even though that development likely cost hundreds of thousands of Americans jobs over a couple years, how many new jobs resulted? Even if the new jobs weren't directly related, the technological advances we are experiencing bring new opportunity with them. I think there are definitely growing pains, and these growing pains are probably disproportionately felt by the lowe…
Hi Rebekah--
Thanks for sharing your experience and connecting your personal experience with the material from this week's readings. (I hope you're feeling on the mend!) I find the use of robotics in medicine to be quite fascinating... but you brought up robots I didn't realize were in use by medical corporations like hospitals. Automation always seems to be the scare word tossed about by political pundits and commentators alike as a way to cast opponents in a poor light.
As we eliminate jobs more often filled by the working poor class, and continue pushing education as a gatekeeping requirement to higher paying wages, it does begin to raise some concerning red flags. Obviously, cashier positions are being increasingly given…
Hi Rebekah,
Thought-provoking post! I am a bit conflicted by robotic technology in general. I refuse to use self-checkout lanes because inevitably it takes me longer to find the barcode than if I had waited in a regular line. They may save Target money, but they aren’t saving me anything.
While I can see how robotic surgeries can be more precise in some cases than the human hand, I am wondering if it may be yet another overhyped technology. According to a 2014 article in AARP, some 71 deaths had been attributed to robotic surgery. That may seem like a low number, but it was enough to prompt the FDA to launch an inquiry.
All of this is reminiscent of…
I always think of the classic Disney Channel Original Movie, Smart House. For those of you who aren't familiar with this movie, a family wins a special house in a contest that is completely automated. There is an A.I. that runs the house that controls everything...from the lights, to alarm clocks, to even cleaning up the floors. There is one scene when the kids have a party, and they have to quickly clean up when they find their dad is returning home. The A.I. instructs the kids to throw all the garbage, plates and all, on the floor and then proceeds to vacuum everything up. Of course...like most stories about a too good to be true A.I. Things go wrong,…
Hey Rebekah,
What you write about is an old experience that humans have to face. I believe that new technology not only advances personal gains but it also advances personal growth as well. Of course, there are those that have fought against such technological advances. For instance, during the Industrial Revolution new technology was being invented and there were those, such as the Luddites, who hated new technology and sought to destroy it because they lost their jobs because of the new technology. The advancement of technology causes humans to adapt and to advance as well. I know that people fight against automation but that new type of technology allows humans to advance as well. Is there a price to…