Celia Pearce, former assistant professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication, was featured on Salon discussing the potential displacement of workers by robotic machinery and artificial intelligence.
“Although they certainly shift and disrupt the labor ecosystem, if you look at the total net effect, history does not bear out the myth that technology replaces people. First, people make technology, and since technology becomes obsolete at an increasingly accelerated pace, the need for people who make it will only grow; second, people are required to maintain technology—technology is notoriously poor at taking care of itself; third, people are also required to assist other people in using technology; and fourth, most technology requires new labor forms.”