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How soon will I be replaced by robots?

Francisco Miraval

Until a few days ago, I thought it could take some time before robots or computers finally replace me. Unfortunately, now I know I was wrong, because they are already replacing me.

I began to work as a journalist almost 25 years ago, and since then I write and share stories, competing against other journalists that also write and share their stories. However, I did not anticipate having to compete with journalist robots. It is not only competing with them, it is also trying to distinguish them from “real” reporters.

For example, since 2010, Narrative Science, a company with main office in Chicago, employs a robot (in fact, a computer program) as a reporter that, using the name of the company, writes stories about the stock market. Those stories are then published in leading national media outlets.

According to a recent story (April 23, 2012) published by El País, in Spain, Narrative Science is “an efficient reporter” (like me), whose stories “will not win the Pulitzer” (also, like me), and that is able to “transform data into articles” (again, like me.)

However, according to the story in El País, the key element is that when readers read the stories written like Narrative Science “they do not know if the story was written by a person or by a machine.” Something similar happens to me. When people read my stories, they cannot believe an actual human being wrote the stories.

There are so many similarities between Narrative Science and me that perhaps that is why I am been replaced. And robots offer some advantages. For example, robot-reporters do not need rest, or vacations, or health insurance, or “quality time” with their families.

If robots are taking away from me my job as a journalist, perhaps I can keep my job as a language instructor, something I have been doing for several decades now. After all, I said to myself, if somebody wants to learn a second language, it is because that person wants to communicate with another person.

I was wrong. Just a few days ago, a county in western Colorado announced it will replace several language teachers at local schools by computer programs. I think it is a good idea, if the purpose of the initiative is to teach students how to talk with a computer that speaks a foreign language.

I am almost certain that those who decided to fire the language teachers and replace them by computer programs probably do not speak a second language, they never studied a second language, or perhaps they have a bad experience learning a language. At least, that is what I saw at other higher education institutions.

Whatever the case, it is clear that my knowledge, skills, and experience, and myself, are becoming obsolete in a world so obsessed with “efficiency” and “cutting expenses” that human are disposable. I do not want to go back to the past. That is impossible. But I doubt there is room for me in the future.

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