Robot-Induced Unemployment Is Looming

Techno-trends could make high unemployment a fixture

What's good for the boss man and the consumer (who's always right, after all) isn't necessarily good for the laborer.

That's the claim being made by Conor Sen at The Atlantic, who writes of a future where increased automation, and hence increased unemployment - but also low-cost consumer goods - are the new normal. And unlike in times past, when such labor-saving technologies were relegated to the factory floor, this time it's hitting the more face-to-face occupations.

"While until now these job-destroying forces have mostly been confined to the goods-producing and information sectors," Sen writes, "the next wave is going to hit...everyone from bankers to health-care and education workers."

The American credo of you-are-what-you-do will make this even more difficult to accept, he warns: "Americans continue to define themselves by work when technology continues to reduce the demand for labor."

Via The Atlantic.

Should we be concerned about new technologies replacing American workers?

[intrance210]

Yea,In case You haven't Noticed,That's kinda Already Started !

[Bobolinsky]

I can see it happening. Increasing depersonalization between corporations and the masses. Automated telephone menus are the precursor. "Press 1 for New Customers"

Imagine that on a personal level at the bank and supermarket. Combine that with personalized advertisements... I'll never go into a mall again.... eeeshh

[Thunderchicken]

Robot-Induced Unemployment Is Looming

And has been since the '70s.

[autiger]

Like this is new? Is it me, or is this another attempt to explain our economic troubles and why thing aren't getting better? I'm opposite.. I believe the "big picture' it's about technology .. And that has created way more jobs than it has destroyed. Seems it just an excuse now.. Maybe it's just me..

[Just_Lisa]

Wow. This is incredable. Anderson cooper has one of these in his image. I seen it on his show Friday, July 6, 2012!! I am almost speechless.

Yes, this can be a real threat to a LOT of working people. Thinking back to the late 70's, early 80's, I can remember my Mamaw saying that some day they will have telephones that show our faces as we are talking to each other. God love her heart, she passed away in 89, she would be amazed at the technology we have now, and really we don't even think its a big thing anymore. When you can remember party lines, and only dialing the last four numbers on the phone, or picking up the phone to make a call and hear your neighbor shout "get off the phone, I'll be finished in a minute".
YES, THIS IS A HUGELY BIG DEAL!!!

[FRitzKlenner5]

Yes. I hear that Andy owns his robot-doppelgänger. Is that something that you would keep in the closet? Just asking...

[Just_Lisa]

@fritz, NO WAY!! Lol. It's SO creepy!
Talk about "I Robot" !! I scare easily anyhow! LMBO
Although....as a housecleaner...
Lol, put it under lock and key in an outside building at night! Lol

[Bobolinsky]

I'm creeped out by this whole story... I guess my "uncanny valley" is wider than most.

[BrainSmashR666]

This is only a threat to people who have falsely elevated their self worth. Sure this robot can give you a diagnosis based on symptoms and a method of treatment based on that diagnosis, but it's light years away from being a legit nurse. Now if you build cars on an assembly line and think your job is worth $25 an hour, well you might be in trouble.....

[Just_Lisa]

They already have robotic assembly in the auto industry. Betcha these robots can count money. Bank tellers would no longer be needed or put in jeopardy of being killed in a bank robbery. Operators for companies that just require window cashiers, such as gas islands. Holy cow, lots of situations come to mind! Yikes! This is so creepy! Lol

[BrainSmashR666]

That's my point...robotics can already cover repetative tasks like assembly lines and counting objects with a significantly higher rate of success and consistency than humans...but it's unlikely that they will ever be able to put shingles on your roof. Which worker is really worth that $25 an hour??

[Thunderchicken]

The smart person is the one who learns to build, repair and maintain the robot.

[Bobolinsky]

Some trades... some jobs... will go the way of the blacksmith and lamplighter. That's "progress" (not the political definition) and is normal and in a large sense, desirable.

Artificial intelligence is what worries me. All a computer needs is sentience and the ability and opportunity to self-replicate.

After that? Just like with all disagreements...

The aggressor makes the rules.

[BrainSmashR666]

That's another fear light years in the making, Bob...and like turning lead into gold, is most likely an imposibility for man. Despite what seems like leaps and bounds in technology, it all still boils down to a list man-made commands

[gammler]

Of course we should be concerned and make plans to accommodate it. The basic premise of the argument, however, is simply Luddism. Any time there is a technological advancement there is labor displacement. Sorry, that is life in the big city. The displacement is usually confined to unskilled labor, however. I don't think there is any industry that will guarantee a worker a lifetime job. Labor has to take the responsibility to adapt.

[DerivePI]

"Translation for Dummies" - Should we hold on to old technologies like wagons and sailboats because they employ more people?

[Wilberhum]

Just another case of the wealthy getting wealthier at the cost of the diminishing middle class.
Amoral corporations are destroying the America we love and creating an America that BrainSmashR666 will love.
Let the middle class 'eat cake'.

[Pflack]

Technology cannot be halted, nor would it be wise to even stall it. However to not address the ramifications, i.e., education requirements to keep pace, possible earlier retirement ages and even consider shorter work days to allow two shifts or three verses one work shift may have to be considered. The only problem is going to be our attitude and are we willing to accept the challenge

[Stratton]

Chicken Littles have been screaming this tired alarm since Ford implemented the moving assembly line. Yes, some jobs will disappear but others will be created. Who anticipated the millions of jobs today that would never have existed without the Internet? What about all the stores that sell nothing but wireless devices? Technology creates as many jobs as it reduces.

[ir0nw0lfe]

Tecnology always closes some doors and opens others. Life moves forward and change is inevitable. America is changing from a manufacturing nation to a data production and management nation. Jobs will follow that trend and many employees will have to learn new skills or be left behind. There are still occupations that remain the same but most every job from police officer to oil rig worker has seen an increasedl reliance on computer technology. There was a time when telegraph operator was a promising, up and coming occupation.

[BigD1391]

Evolution. And the average person himself will need to evolve if he wants to make it. The younger generation is going to have some serious challenges coming their way.

[Keyjo]

We already have ATM's to replace bank tellers, annoying robotic female voices answering phones, directing us which way to turn and how far to drive before reaching our destination.
I love that ALLY bank commercial where they replace the dry cleaner front desk person with a blender!
It seems that some customer service based business are going away from the technology and back to the personal interaction aspect. I think consumers have grown very weary of pushing buttons and voice recognition. People wanting to conduct their business technologically will stay home and do so via the internet. But people who actually feel like dressing and getting out to do their business, shopping, dining, are usually still looking for a little one to one face time.
We're not all cyborgs quite yet.

[CommonSense]

It won't matter when it gets to the point where robots are used for all human labor.
Then we can abolish the need for human employment and happily live our days out doing what ever makes us happy.
The government can make sure everyone has their own robots and free access to an amount of raw materials regulated by a computer program that processes requests and availability and we can all live as the rich do now only better.
If we want to end poverty and human misery this should be our first priority to achieve this technological utopia. In the meantime the government should do what it can to help displaced workers by providing funding for training and education towards the remaining career paths.
When robots are doing everything except arts and entertainment (& I suppose politics, as much as I dislike many of the human politicians there's something I just don't trust about letting robots make the rules) which humans would happily engage in for free(maybe not so much for the politics but you only need a few humans to be interested in filling that role for free for this to work) if it wasn't for the need to make a living we have utopia.

[Misesian]

This kind of Chicken-Littleism has been a staple of human nature since the before the Luddites started destroying mechanical looms. Mechanization improves our standard of living. It is accompanied by uncomfortable losses in certain job fields, but that is offset by new types of work. Someone is going to have to build and maintain those robots. Greater mechanization leads to great leisure time. How is this a bad thing?

[ImMe]

Efficiency gains are great. However, to create a market requires buyers and sellers. If the would be buyers are forced out work, they have no income and create no demand.
Traditionally new markets have emerged to employ displaced workers. It seems to take less and less time for a new industry to become technologized. I can foresee a time when by the time humans are trained to work in a new industry, a machine will have been developed to replace them before the human ever achieves competency in the field.