Viewers gasp, Buyers drool, and Customers take out their wallets. The shiny and beeping new machines aren’t the newest IPhones or tablets, but rather the newest automations that will make business faster, more efficient, and using less people than ever before. We have already begun to see them intrude into our ordinary lives. Whether we are ordering a quarter pounder, listening to an automatic receptionist on the phone, or avoiding a beeping “Marty” in Giant, these machines have begun doing jobs that humans have always done. The question is “What happens to the humans that used to do these jobs”.
Most people think that the majority of jobs lost will be blue-collar jobs based on strength and endurance, but computers are taking white-collar jobs as well. Computers can analyze, add, and scan materials faster than any human with a college degree can. This has allowed computers to take on some manual jobs such as driving, packing, writing, and even banking advice.
There are many ways that workers can still find their place in a robot filled workplace. Displaced workers can be retrained to service their new robot workers, program their personality traits into the new workers, and provide the human eyes that can differentiate things robots can’t yet. Usually, with every new technology removed, a new one will be created. New jobs will be created maintaining these robot workers and designing the next version of the workers. Some workers will need more training and new skills that will help them adapt to the brave new world of “Marty”s everywhere and doing everything.
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