We’ve all heard it before: Robots are taking our jobs.
As artificial intelligence (AI) and automation technologies continue to improve every year, the threat of robots taking over a significant portion of the workforce is a genuine fear.
There’s no denying that robots and automation are making their ways into a variety of different industries worldwide.
If you don’t know already, a robot is a machine that’s programmable by a computer with the ability to carry out complex series of actions automatically.
PwC, an accounting and consulting firm, recently released a report that indicates more than one-third of U.S. jobs could be at “high risk” of automation by the early 2030s.
In the U.S., 38% of jobs could be at risk of automation, compared with 30% in Britain, 35% in Germany, and 21% in Japan.
Research and Markets have forecasted that, by 2021, the global robotics industry will expand to $226.2 billion, compared to 2016’s $34.1 billion.
That’s a hefty increase in just five years.
But what does this really mean? Should you really be worried that you won’t have a job in 10 years?
What Will They Take First?
Earlier reports have stated that the rust belt will be one of the areas that are most affected by the emergence of robots and automation.
However, a new analysis suggests that the places that’ll be hit the hardest by automation in the next decade will be the areas outside the rust belt.
It predicts that areas with high concentrations of jobs in food preparation, office or administrative support, and also sales will be the jobs that are most affected by robots.
While, yes, a robot could take your job in the future, but this doesn’t mean that you should quit your job today.
Maybe they’ll be able to do your job, but the reality of a business going all in and investing in a fleet of robots to replace humans isn’t likely.
It would cost a lot of money… And who knows if it would even be that beneficial at first?
New technology is constantly improving — just take a look at your smartphone. It’s evolved so much in the past decade and has improved many features like its memory storage and battery life.
So, imagine the type of costs that a company would have to incur just to comply with routine maintenance and repairs to keep robots up-to-date and running efficiently, or even the types of improvements or versions of your particular robot that would emerge.
If anything, businesses will gradually allocate robots to their minuscule tasks and wait and see how successful they’ll be at doing them.
Robots or machines won’t be able to perform the jobs that take years of training for people to excel at. This means the types of jobs that involve intuitive decision-making, abstract thinking, and difficult physical environments. People can rest assured knowing that those jobs won’t be taken away by robots.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the following in an interview:
I think we’re so far away from that that it’s not even on my radar screen. I think it’s 50 or 100 more years.
[Automation’s] taken jobs that are low-paying. We need to make sure we are investing in education and training for the American worker.
A robot probably won’t be taking your job anytime soon — or at least not abruptly. We know that robots and automation are expanding and infiltrating not only the technology industry but also industries like retail, manufacturing, and transportation.
With this kind of technology, we as a society have the opportunity to focus on getting more people trained in jobs that could be more fulfilling for them and instead have the robots taking care of tasks that would make everyone else’s job a lot easier.
Automation will improve efficiency. And in return, it will improve and push our society into roles that will greatly benefit the country and also have us take the global lead in a lot of different industries.
Until next time,
Jennifer Clark
Pro Trader Today