SECTION B
Essay
125 marks
Technology cannot replace manpower.
WRITE IN
90 min
1,000–1,200 words
Reading the topic
The topic claims machines cannot fully replace human workers. The examiner expects analysis of automation and AI, the tasks machines do and cannot do, and how technology shifts rather than eliminates human work, while acknowledging real displacement.
ThesisTechnology replaces tasks, not human judgement, care and creativity, so the future lies in complementing people with machines rather than replacing them.
Dimensions to cover
- 1Economy: automation removes routine jobs but creates new ones, though displaced workers may not get them
- 2Judgement: complex, unstructured situations still need human adaptability
- 3Care work: health, teaching and caregiving depend on empathy that machines lack
- 4Demographics: ageing societies use robots to fill labour gaps, while young India needs jobs
- 5Skills: reskilling decides whether workers ride or are crushed by technology
- 6Ethics: decisions on life, liberty and justice must stay with humans
Counter-view
- AI advances suggest machines may soon outperform humans even in cognitive work. The essay should accept rapid change but argue that human roles shift towards oversight, creativity and care
Open and close
- Open: Open with the Silkyara tunnel in November 2023: a giant drilling machine fails, and a team of rat-hole miners with hand tools finish the rescue
- Close: End by arguing that technology works best as the tool of human hands, not their replacement
Where marks usually go
- Writing a generic AI essay without addressing manpower
- Taking an extreme position that machines will never replace jobs
- Ignoring India's demographic context
Examples that fit
- HistoryThe Luddites smashed textile machines in England between 1811 and 1816, fearing job loss, a recurring fear with each technology wave.E.P. Thompson, The Making of the English Working Class (1963)
- CaseIn the 2023 Silkyara tunnel collapse in Uttarakhand, rat-hole miners dug the final stretch manually after an auger machine broke down, rescuing 41 workers.Uttarakhand government and NDMA statements, November 2023
- ThinkerDavid Autor explains that automation complements many human tasks, which is why jobs persist despite machines.David Autor, 'Why Are There Still So Many Jobs?', Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2015
- ThinkerKeynes coined 'technological unemployment', warning that machines may displace workers faster than new uses are found.J.M. Keynes, Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren (1930)