Is your job being replaced by technology?

[mvbighead]

Well take customer support centers. Most of these call centers don't involve skilled labor. They are people who can speak and read English well enough to follow a script given to them by engineers. This is done to filter out the 95% or so of the problems people call customer support lines for that can be solved via a simple script. Is your computer plugged in, is the screen on etc etc... Voice recognition and computer learning algorithms have come a long way. Just look at Watson playing jeopardy. Doesn't take a big leap for me to see these kinds of calls being dynamically answered by a computer. And if the computer can't help you then you get to speak to a MUCH MUCH smaller pool of real people.

I'd say we're pretty far from that. Look at all the companies that have tried to do voice activated directories--they fucking suck. Ever called Bell? You can't get that piece of shit voice recognition to understand what department you want, nevermind solve your problem.

Actually, you're more wrong than you think. I work for a call center, and manage a lot of the technology that goes into and out of this place. The execs are now deciding to implement such a call system that will likely eliminate a LOT of jobs. Essentially, you call, and the caller receives a recorded response from a real person. That person's recording leads them up to the point of sale, and then asks, "what would you like to buy?" The caller says, "Shoes." When the caller says shoes, that recording gets analyzed instantly by both a computer and a human who is analyzing 3-4 calls at a time, the person essentially validates the computer's assumption. The accuracy to which this thing works is a large leap above your typical automated answering devices, and the accuracy is 99.9% there, which is an improvement over the $6/hr employee just working for a paycheck. So, for a call center with 1000s of reps, they can likely eliminate 50+% of their workforce with this new product that provides an even higher rate of accuracy. And that means 500+ people looking for new jobs.

Sure, there will still be calls that need a skilled agent, but that can be addressed at the front of the call and the customer can be routed that way as needed. And in many ways, I can see those calls becoming more and more automated as well.

 

[moshquerade]

Mine is being flooded with new grads as more and more colleges develop programs. Also, there is a push for techs with less education to be allowed to perform the same duties as licensed professionals.

That said, the ones that are pushing to increase our numbers so they can pay us less have no worries of the same thing happening to them. Then again, the more sealants I place the less fillings for them to do in the future.