or: How we can save ourselves from the coming robot revolution
Let’s start with the bad news: The robots are stealing our jobs.
That may sound like science fiction hyperbole to many of you, but it really shouldn’t — it’s been happening for years, and there are now hundreds of jobs disappearing every day. No, I’m not talking about a scenario where WALL-E rolls up and kicks you out of your cubicle. The way that robots are stealing our jobs is by automating the work we do today.
Here’s how it happens: as technology progresses, machines are invented capable of doing work that used to require significant human time and effort. Since it’s typically cheaper to have a machine than a person on staff, this eliminates jobs that formerly existed to get that work done — the positions are “automated.” Automation eliminated many auto industry jobs in the 1980s when robot-driven car assembly was developed, and now jobs like store clerks and baristas are being threatened by smarter and cheaper machines. More than three million transportation industry jobs are at risk of displacement by the widespread adoption of self-driving vehicles, which will be present in 30 US cities by the end of 2016…
Filed under: REVOLUTION, TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCE Tagged: Automation, displacement, jobs, robots, Stealing Jobs 
