Book: Robots, Ethics and the Future of Jobs

Source: Messenger Publications

In his new book 'Robots, Ethics and the Future of Jobs', well-known environmentalist, Columban priest, and author Seán McDonagh demonstrates that the same technology that we use to connect, protect and support us can also be put to use in ways that have a huge negative impact on our privacy, our freedom and our life choices. Thus, the software that guided the track-and-trace efforts in combating the coronavirus could be used to trace migrants or refugees. Drones and robots used in the retail, education, hospitality, manufacturing and building industries certainly create efficiencies but will have a huge negative impact on jobs in the future, potentially knocking up to 40%-50% of people out of permanent jobs in these sectors.

McDonagh argues that we need to understand and address the potential repercussions of developing technology in an ethical vacuum. Our digital future is fast approaching with little regulation and few institutional policies and protections. He calls for respect for human rights to be at the heart of these new technologies.

Former President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, draws attention to the potential polarisation of society. She says: "this hugely informative book shakes us out of our massage armchairs and demands that we engage immediately with these galloping advances so we can shape them to the benefit of the many and not leave them to the enrichment of the few at the awful cost of the impoverishment of swathes of humanity."

Pat Cox, President of the European Parliament (2004-2007) summarised the book as, "a wakeup call for political, civic, media and Church leaders, urging a response to the deepening and accelerating pace of technological change and its potential consequences."

Professor John Sweeney, former President of An Taisce says, "as we enter the Brave New World where control and automation potentially remove our hard-fought freedoms as well as our jobs, this book asks searching questions of how society should respond ethically to the threats posed."

'Robots, Ethics and the Future of Jobs' by Seán McDonagh, with a foreword by the Irish Times journalist, Karlin Lillington, is an accessible and thought-provoking look at the potential of new technology to bring about seismic societal change and a call for discourse and decisions to ensure the best outcomes for humanity.

It is published in Ireland and the UK by Messenger Publications and priced at £18.95

A Zoom launch will be held on 4 March 2021 at 7pm GMT.
Speakers will be Dr John Sweeney and Dr Lorna Gold.
Details from Carolanne Henry at c.henry@messenger.ie

Link for ordering from Messenger Publications:
www.messenger.ie/product/robots-ethics-and-the-future-of-jobs/