Technology as a Threat to Job

Harvey Cohen, president of Strategy Analytics believes that Technology is the biggest threat to jobs.Technology that adds intelligence to computers poses a far more serious threat to jobs than low-wage countries. According to him, "The thing about technology is that it has a tendency to creep up on you".

Computers also handle many customer-service tasks today, such as directing callers to service reps or scanning customers' email and giving back automated responses. As computer intelligence improves, technology will handle more tasks and replace more people.



And the technology will get better. For example, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the research arm for the US military, is leading a project to develop a vehicle that can navigate a desert for at least 15 kilometres without a driver. Prototypes have gone as far as 11km, successfully moving around cactuses, boulders and other obstacles.



"I view this in the same way as the first flight of the Wright brothers," Cohen said.



Such advancements eventually find their way into businesses, which means someday fewer jobs driving forklifts and delivery trucks.



"The level of embedded intelligence in our electronic products and services is at a real turning point where we see this accelerating," Cohen said.