With recent developments in technology, people are worried the need for a human workforce will be erased; one study claimed machines will eventually do 45 percent of jobs now performed by humans.

But while that may be true, one UO expert says technology shouldn’t focus on replacing humans, but on augmenting them. This has already begun — large airplanes are largely flown by computers, but nobody wants to ride in a plane without a human pilot.

Jonathan Brewer, a trainer at the UO’s Network Startup Resource Center, agrees that there’s room for humans and machines to work together, using the example of streetlights that tell city workers when they’re broken or trash cans that tell when they’re full. That way, the humans don’t need to spend time driving around to check. The humans don’t become redundant; they become more efficient.

To read more, see “Lessening Effect of Robots on the Human Work Force” on Voice of America Learning English.  

The Network Startup Resource Center is an organization funded by a grant from the International Research Network Connections. Their end goal is to make it easier for local scientists, engineers and educators to collaborate via the internet with their international colleagues by helping to develop national and regional internet infrastructure.