Technology is rapidly changing the world around us. However, many of us associate terms as advanced robotics, autonomous vehicles and the automation of knowledge work with the far future. However, I believe that there is a slight underestimation in how these developments have already taken up a role in our everyday lives. Just think about your local supermarket with the self-checkout counter, or your gym, they will possibly offer virtual classes. All these minor changes entered into our lives almost unnoticed, but may potentially have a huge impact on the way work is done and at society. Imagine, if there would be automated cars, will we even need taxi drivers in the future anymore? If jobs are replaced and automated, what effect will this have on the workforce?
You already heard and read a lot about the self-driving cars of these days. Although they are still not completely perfect, some people already make use of them. Gartner expects that these autonomous vehicles and advanced robotics will reach the plateau of productivity in 5 to 10 years. (Gartner 2015) Thus in the next decade we could possibly have advanced robotics and autonomous vehicles near-at-hand.
It is most likely that these innovations will disrupt or change our day to day processes. Oxford University researches estimate 47% of the US jobs will be automated in 20 years. (Wired, 2016) Martin Ford, the author of Rise of the Robots, argues in his book that robots will help us to lead a more productive live. (Wired, 2016) He supports his statements with the point that most of the work done by humans can be predicted. Thus that factor makes it receptive for robot interference. (Wired, 2016)
I believe that we have to rethink job creation. Furthermore, we need to assure that the workforce adapts to rapid advances in technology. I predict that work in ten years will be created more in and around technology. New technological advancements such as Internet of things will probably have reached the plateau of productivity at that stage and will have an unrestrained influence to our modern work processes both in terms of workplace, mobility and communication. To conclude I believe that our future work will entail flexibility strongly focused around technology.
Wired (2016) ‘Rise of the Machines: The Future has Lots of Robots, Few Jobs for Humans’ < http://www.wired.com/brandlab/2015/04/rise-machines-future-lots-robots-jobs-humans/>
Gartner (2015) ‘Gartner’s 2015 Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies Identifies the Computing Innovations That Organizations Should Monitor’ < http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3114217>
Dear Elisa, thank you for your post! I agree with you – I believe the future of work will revolve much more about technology, and in every job, some knowledge of technology is needed. Whether this is in the medical field, engineering field, politics or even the law field, technology is taken a larger and larger part of our lives, so it would be highly unlikely that our jobs won’t be affected. However, I do not believe that humans will lose their jobs, but I do think there will be a shift in the type of knowledge needed and hence the type of jobs available. I am very curious to see what the future holds and which jobs will appear and disappear!
Hey Elisa. Your article provides a great insight into the future of work and makes us wonder to what extent will the jobs become automated and how bad could it be for humans. I agree that there is a big underestimation amongst the mass towards the extent in how these automated developments have taken control of our lives already.
I would like to further comment that most of the people have a huge concern regarding this as they believe it to be a barrier towards their future opportunities (You clearly mention 47% of jobs will be automated in the next 20 years in US). However, I believe that this concern is sometimes exaggerated. Even though most of the jobs have the potential to be replicated and possibly perform better under robots, some jobs look very unlikely to be taken over by robots. The very fact that separates machines from human beings is that we are humans. A lot of creative, emotional, social and cultural factors influence the work environment today and most of the transactions between people are still done keeping these factors in mind.
Also, advancements in technology always gives way to better productivity and innovations and this suggests that new forms of job roles will emerge out in the future. I feel that the most crucial factor for success in the future will be the human ability to figure out how these robots can be put to their best use while still keeping human intelligence. Replacing human intelligence with artificial intelligence will be highly unsustainable as there is no limit to human brain and its ability to think outside the box (we created these robots, not the other way round).
Robots are definitely better than humans when it comes to physical tasks but I believe that they will never match human intelligence. It will be best to think how robots could help us identify new possibilities and improve existing methods but thinking that robots will leave no jobs for humans is not something humans should be worried about.
– Harsh Jain
http://www.techinsider.io/jobs-robots-cant-take-over-2015-11
http://www.forbes.com/sites/sap/2014/05/21/this-does-not-compute-the-human-skills-robots-cant-replace-and-how-to-develop-them/#5af2b34c185f
@Hars Jain
Thank you for sharing your interesting view Harsh. I completely agree that the most crucial factor for success in the future will be how we can make sure that robots are being put to their best use while keeping human intelligence. I read another interesting article online about how humans and robots can actually collaborate together to improve productivity and efficiency. They name this the cobot, which is used for the more dangerous, dirty and dull jobs. At the BMW production line they incorporated these cobots too and there they found out that the human-robot teams were 85% more productive than either of them alone. I am very curious what the future will hold for us humans and robots, however I indeed do believe that it is wrong to think that robots will leave no jobs for humans. We should start seeing them more as a tool to make our lives easier 😉
If you are interested you can find the National Geographic article here: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/05/financial-times-meet-the-cobots-humans-robots-factories/
Hi Elisa,
Thank you for your interesting post on the blog. I also find this topic really fascinating, controversial, and thought-provoking at the same time. So, I have got some remarks to add next to my other colleagues’ thoughts.
First of all, I also believe that today’s rapidly developing technology will greatly change our life, including our jobs and working style, in the upcoming decades. I personally support today’s technological revolution since it can indeed help mankind to become more constructive, productive, and to develop faster in the future. I think that technology should be built into our workflows as deeply as possible as long as it does not threaten ones’ creativity and job security. Furthermore, I agree with my other colleague that there are jobs that cannot be fully done by technology since humans are social beings so we cannot be completely substituted by a robot or even artificial intelligence e.g. negotiating, making important decisions.
On the other hand, automatization by robots will also have its side effects on our society such as increasing unemployment, inequality, and changing world system. Since technology is not the only thing that is rapidly evolving and growing in the 21st century also the world’s population. The Earth’s projected population is going to be 9.7 billion people by 2050. This means that more and more people will have no jobs if technology and robots take our jobs. Moreover, if that will be the case inequality will exponentially rise as well. Or do you believe that our world will become self-sustaining and have more spare time due to the help of the upcoming technological revolution?
In brief, I think that the most important thing is that our society should find the right trade-off between the advantages and disadvantages provided by this technological revolution. I am optimistic about it since humanity has already overcome revolutions such as the industrial revolution(s).
I am curious about your opinion about these aforementioned thoughts and questions.
References:
http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/news/population/2015-report.html
https://www.reference.com/world-view/disadvantages-using-robots-7afcd5688c8ca5dd
Thank you for this insightful blog! I agree we have to rethink job creation and I believe there is a role for society to guide students towards jobs that will still be of value in the future. Taking example from a rapport by the FYA (Foundation for Young Australians, 2015), it states that 60% of young Australians are being trained in jobs that will be radically affected by automation. They may be rendered obsolete within 10 to 15 years.
But how do we prepare for the future? You highlighted the influence of modern work processes and I believe that that is where we need to prep the future workforce. These processes will lower barriers to work and increase flexibility in our work attitudes, but they could also mean more job insecurity, inequality and unemployment (Independent, 2015).
For us to get a head start using technological innovations, we will need a strong backbone. Manual jobs are at the highest risk to become automated and this is where effective chances for job recreation lie. Policies need to be set up with the goal of enabling everyone: boosting digital literacy by mandatory courses and ensuring everyone of access to digital infrastructure.
– Josine Snoep
http://www.fya.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/fya-future-of-work-report-final-lr.pdf
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/60-of-students-are-chasing-jobs-that-may-be-rendered-obsolete-by-technology-report-finds-10471244.html
Dear Elisa, very interesting article! You show great new insights that I have not thought of myself. This will help me rethink my future career options and those of my children. What will the future hold for us. Maybe even more than you suggest…. Petra Hoornik
Dear Lisa,
I think that your article is very interesting and gives us a lot to think about.
I agree that in the daily life there will be (and already is) more and more use of robots and technology. The first thing I do in the morning is check my Phone to see what my agenda is for the day, which train I need, what the weather it will be for the day and if there have been some updates on social media. So your day already starts with the use of a lot of technology.
I also think that a lot of work is getting replaced by “new technology” without us noticing it, because it has always gone slowly, but think about already all the factories, where a lot of labour of people is replaced by machines and robots. And Amazon where people can buy products online, after that the products will be sorted by robots, and drones can fly the product to your house. No human labour is needed.
We are also able to see the development of robots or machines and technology clearly in the medical world. Last year we were even able to make a heart on a chip! And there are plans for a robotic artificial eye to replace the human eye. I believe that in a few decades we will replace lots of our body parts with artificial parts to make our body stronger and better suited.
With jobs being replaced by robots and new technology, I agree that new jobs are being created in researching and exploring these new technologies, but I think that more jobs will disappear than be created. And that this will go until even the research can be done by AI. For what are the humans than needed and do we still have a purpose?
Even though some of these things are in the feature, it is fun to think about it.
Ps. could you remove my last comment. I accidentally pressed post comment.
Interesting article with great insights, especially on robotics and autonomous machines. I believe that they will be of significance in our future working life. However, I believe that the human skills, understanding and insights will still form the foundation of our future work.
Dear Elisa,
Thank you for your interesting insights in the future of work. I am very interested in this topic. It sounds as something far-fetched for many people but actually this cooperation with robots is already happening everyday. I cannot wait until I can have a robot who helps me out around!