Like all revolutionary discoveries, automation has both good and bad sides. On the good side, automation does away with much of the drudgery in work. Machines are taking over more and more of the repetitive, routine tasks the people find boring and unpleasant. Manufacturers thus need fewer workers to turn out the same quantity of goods. Many products are better because the electrical and mechanical controls of automated equipment are more accurate than the human hand and eye. In some cases, more good are produced. Increased production may lower the cost of each item and make goods cheaper. On the bad side, may people who have been earning a living at routine, repetitive tasks may be left without work when machines replace them. Some of them can be retained to work in industries that hve not yet been automated. Programs have been set up by governmants and businesses to retain people who have lost their jobs because of automation. But there is as yet no satisfactory program for people who are unable to learn new trades. People who are enthusiastic about automation point out that every step in the improvement of machines has put some people out of work. But in the long run there has been an increase in the total number of jobs. Other people point out that there is no guarantee that this will always be true. And history shows that when automation does create new jobs, it takes time for these new jobs to develop.

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Image via Wikipedia