Relax, Robots Aren’t Taking Your Jobs
It seems like every other day, there’s a new article claiming that automation is killing workers. “The robots are coming!”, they shout, scaring everyone within earshot into worries over job security, mortgage payments, college tuition, and retirement savings. The media just loves scare tactics. After all, it gets them more of your attention and generates more revenue.
But here’s the thing: the real data out there says otherwise. Although automation IS happening, it isn’t killing the workforce. So what’s really happening?
Is Automation Replacing Humans?
According to a new report from McKinsey, by 2030, 47% of jobs will become automated. At the same time, this will create new jobs and new opportunities for the human workforce. How? The most advanced technologies in the world are, at their core, created by people.
Computers don’t build themselves. Robots don’t magically appear — it takes a team of mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, software designers, and other computer science experts. And therein lies a new opportunity — technical skills will be even more in-demand than they are now, as the future of innovation requires more highly skilled workers.
What ATMs Taught Us About Automation
Just a few decades ago, when ATMs began distributing cash, people worried that bank tellers would lose their jobs and become irrelevant. Today, there are nearly 3.7 million ATMs worldwide.
What happened to bank workers?
With the growth of ATMs, customers could withdraw cash without going to a teller, so banks reduced the number of teller positions at each branch. Operational costs decreased, so banks increased their physical presence by opening more branches, which, of course, created a need for tellers at each location. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, teller positions grew by 11.6%.
Other bank workers learned new tasks and created new roles. Bookkeeper positions grew by 6.4%. The industry changed, and workers were forced to evolve.
The Human Workforce Must Evolve
Benjamin Franklin once said, “Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.” Without progress and innovation, we wouldn’t have smartphones, the internet, 3D printing, email, and so many other technologies that have changed our world.
We’d never have Waze, because paper maps work just fine.
We’d never have WhatsApp, because calling and sending text messages is good enough.
Amazon would never have been, because we can buy clothing, books, and electronics from a store.
Artificial Intelligence is The Next Big Thing
AI is probably THE biggest of the ‘next big thing’. Its applications in medicine, law, education, retail, science, travel, and construction are massive. And we are only at the beginning of what AI can accomplish.
Tech leaders say that we shouldn’t worry too much about AI replacing jobs. Rather, this presents an opportunity to transform human talent to do other things. AI can do a lot of grunt work, freeing people up to take on other responsibilities and tasks that machines cannot do.
The human workforce won’t be irrelevant; it simply must evolve.
