This is an article I wrote recently for my human resource management (HRM) graduate school course. I thought I would share it with you here on my WordPress blog:
“Skynet begins to learn rapidly and eventually becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m., EDT, on August 29, 1997. In a panic, humans try to shut down Skynet.” If you are familiar with the thrilling movie Terminator 2: Judgment Day from 1991, you know what happens next. When someone speaks of artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace, the word “dehumanization” immediately comes to mind. As a point of fact, I will go as far as to say that AI can actually undermine basic human rights. Of course, the poor, the marginalized, and the middle class will suffer from AI the most, not the upper class and the wealthy members of society.
Now, I know I am going to sound like that 61-year-old man who is yelling for neighbors to stay off his lawn and away from his prize-winning petunias, but I have seen dehumanization creep in more and more over the years. I remember when I used to pull into a full-service gas station. The attendant would smile, pump my gas, wash my windows, collect my money, and wave as I drove away. I never had to leave my vehicle!
Then, one day in the 1970s, the geniuses-that-be told us they had a better plan. We would pump our own gas. I had to get out of the car, pump my own gas, walk to the attendant (who did not smile or wave) to pay, wash my hands, which smelled like fuel for an hour anyway, and I did not dare eat food with my hands during that period. We were lied to and told this was progress.
This so-called progress happened with our garbage collection as well. We used to have actual guys who hopped off the back of the truck, loaded the garbage, placed the bins (with lids closed) back in their proper spot, smiled, and waved goodbye until the next week. Then, some genius fired those hard workers and brought in the automated garbage truck. This “improvement” picks up the garbage, dumps half of it onto the street (which I have to pick up each week), and tips over the garbage pail onto the ground with the lid open. Then it immediately rains, making the inside of the container smelly and filled with mildew.
Now, we humans are moving to the new and improved Orwellian level of dehumanization. We call to try and get decent customer service (that is a total joke) and are put through three minutes of prompts by a recorded message. Robots are stealing our jobs in factories, and we do not have a lot of factories left here in America. When we send out job applications, an application tracking system (ATS) is involved, so a staggering 75% of them are never read by human eyes before being tossed in the wastebasket.
In the workplace, dehumanization tends to be a much more subtle process (so employers can get away with it), but it exists nonetheless. Examples can include work overload and exclusion from social circles. In extreme cases, workplace bullying and harassment can take hold.
Where and when will it all end? It will not end until the human race stands up for themselves and refuses to accept poor treatment any longer. Like in the movie, people will have to fight the machines with every last breath. Does this mean we should take a Luddite approach and destroy all of the machines? No. We can live in harmony with the machines. However, we must control the machines versus the machines controlling us instead. Otherwise, what happened with Skynet could happen to the human race.
Sincerely, John F. Hamilton
johnfhamilton 