The Ideal Interpreter?
Your Language Or Mine Part 2
October 2021 Editorial
www.ink2quill.com

So, if technology is overtaking or expected to overtake, the everyday worker in so many places where can we still have a person to person interaction? Will we one day call a plumber and electrician and get a robot of some kind? Will we have all deliveries by drones and all doctor, financial advisor visits by algorithm on our screens? What will happen to the people who provide service to us in our lives? What will happen to the noble institutions like bars, cafes, restaurants and markets?

As for the well being of those who provide services to us in our lives, I think they will be ok, at least financially. Since most of us are in that category I believe most will come through this transition OK. Ideas of universal basic income are being floated around and large exoduses into space for the emerging industries out there are another place for people to go.

One thing we have to acknowledge is how much more our lives have become automated in the last ten years. For example, when I have internet problems my internet provider fixes the problem remotely. I expect this to become the norm and not the exception. This trend will not slow. But what will happen to us when this trend spreads to education and health care? What kind of a health care service will we have when we can only meet a health care provider online? Gone will be the days of the old fashioned doctor with good bed side manners. What about being taught by someone or a program on the screen. Now that in and of itself is not a big deal as an adult but in our formative years that might not be such a healthy thing.

Some people argue that to solve this problem we need to reach the point in robotics where someone cannot distinguish between a living, flesh and blood person and an artificial creation. They say that that is the way to get the best of both worlds. They say that that is the solution to the problem but is it really? That solution sounds like a slight of hand to me.

I would have no problem with an artificially created translator/ interpreter. I would not be bothered by a third party translating a conversation if they did a good job because interaction from person to person would not be lost. There is a place for advancing technologies in our society. If a machine can better diagnose a problem, arrive at a better solution faster or perform the tasks that a person cannot then by all means give technology the right of way.

I feel that all conferences, malls, airports, libraries, public places should have advanced technology like machines to interpreter and translate languages, give directions or offer assistance in many other ways. You could even program them with a sense of humor or make them impossible to be distinguished from flesh and blood people. We need to seriously consider our use of technology when we use it to replace person to person interaction. That would be a great loss to us all. Our ability to interact with each other is as vital a thing to us as air and is an essential part to a healthy good quality of life for us all.

John Ink2Quill

I2Q Blogs / Opinions editorial / ink2quill / john / october 2021 / quill /