The Eventual Impact of Robots in the Workplace

For decades, many companies around the world have considered replacing human labor with robots.
But why do they believe robots are a better option?
Every day, companies seek to increase production speed and accuracy. They invest large amounts of money to improve or innovate their systems and create efficient processes. Despite their efforts, some business leaders feel that human workers cannot always meet their expectations. They often criticize human labor for issues such as fatigue, absenteeism, illness, the need for meetings to solve problems, violations of rules, and collaboration challenges.
For these reasons, they imagine that a system capable of working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week without breaks or complaints would be ideal. But is that really true?

Potential Global Impact
Our global economy is based on exchange. People work to earn money so they can buy goods and services for daily life. Everywhere, individuals study, learn, and develop skills to contribute to society and support themselves economically.
If companies begin replacing the human workforce entirely with robots, production will indeed become faster and more efficient. However, fewer people will have jobs—and therefore less income. Without income, people cannot buy the products that these same robots are producing.
In the long run, this could create a cycle where companies produce more, but society can afford less, leading to economic imbalance, poverty, and social tension.

The Role of Education and Motivation
If robots replace too many human jobs, people may become discouraged from studying or pursuing higher education, believing that “robots can do everything.”
Even though robotics may create some new jobs, such as programming, maintenance, and electronics, these positions will not be enough to replace the millions of traditional jobs that may disappear.

The Challenge of Robot Limitations
From my personal experience with artificial intelligence, I’ve learned that we must think carefully before replacing humans entirely. Robots can support humans, but not fully replace them.
AI systems often make mistakes or “hallucinations”, repeating tasks incorrectly or giving inaccurate answers that humans must correct.
Humans can quickly adapt through experience or short training, but robots require programming for every single task. And what happens if there’s a power outage or a network failure? Who will take responsibility then?

Conclusion
While robots can work faster and more accurately than humans, they are not perfect. They can malfunction, break down, or require long periods of repair. In contrast, humans can be replaced or trained quickly, allowing companies to continue operations without major interruptions.
If companies decide to rely entirely on robots, they may end up producing for robots, not for people, because people without jobs will not have money to buy their products.
Therefore, the best path forward is not to replace humans but to create collaboration between humans and robots, combining technology’s efficiency with humanity’s creativity, empathy, and purpose.

Lovinsky D’Haiti, September 3, 2025