The Future Of Work In An Automated World

In a widely-cited report called The Future of Employment: How Susceptible are Jobs to Computerisation?, Oxford researchers Carl Benedikt Frey and Michael A. Osborne indicate that up to 47 percent of U.S. workers will face the threat of losing their jobs to automated technologies over the next two decades. This was the first study of its kind to suggest that a large number of human workers could be replaced by robotics and AI technologies.

A report called A Future That Works: Automation, Employment, and Productivity, based on a study by the McKinsey Global Institute, predicts that nearly half of our work tasks will be performed by some form of robot by the year 2055. Interestingly, this report focuses on specific tasks and activities that are likely to be automated, rather than on complete jobs.

Another study done more recently by McKinsey estimates that between 400 and 800 million workers could lose their jobs to automated systems by the year 2030.

Clearly, this will create a huge need for individuals to be able to learn new skills to enable them to take on different kinds of work. For this reason, it is important for governments to create retraining programs now, in addition to coming up with ways to help ease the financial burden so many will suffer due to losing their jobs.

This period of transition is probably one of the toughest challenges we’ll face in the near future as a result of the rapid changes in technology. It is an issue that will require proactive collaboration between countries, and between entities in the public and private sectors, as well as input from experts in a variety of disciplines.

These changes may seem startling, but it is important to remember that every technological advance throughout history has generated new kinds of jobs that did not exist previously. It is always difficult to imagine all the ways that new technologies will change our current circumstances ahead of time. However in this scenario, it is very possible that the amount of jobs lost to AI and robots may outnumber the additional jobs created to sustain the new workflow.

We cannot predict the future with any certainty, but with the rapid technological developments and advancements currently taking place in companies worldwide, it is best to be prepared for the socioeconomic changes that may occur on a global scale.

As the technologies we’ve discussed continue to grow and expand, being applied in new and innovative ways, there will probably be a multitude of jobs and business opportunities arising that would be difficult to predict in advance.

While these emerging technologies will undoubtedly bring many changes to our workforce, not all of these changes will be negative. AI technologies will also generate many new opportunities for human workers to take on different kinds of tasks and jobs.

According to John Koetsier, a journalist and tech analyst, the 13 fields below will offer new jobs and opportunities for innovation in the future. Each of these fields is also more likely to be staffed primarily by human workers than delegated to automated services. These 13 fields are:

• Artificial Intelligence
• Augmented or Mixed Reality
• Virtual Reality
• Drones
• Robotics and Automation
• Genomics
• Brain-machine Interfaces
• Data Science
• Blockchain
• Internet of Things
• Nanotechnology and Swarm Intelligence
• Quantum Computing
• 3D Printing

In addition, a study by Forrester Research estimates that approximately 15 million new jobs will be created in the United States alone over the next 10 years as a direct result of AI and automation. This is equivalent to 10 percent of the American workforce today.

One of the industries that will continue to generate numerous opportunities is health care. Not only will technology create new applications and tools to aid in the practice of medicine, but it will also probably create a need for additional types of treatments for symptoms resulting from addictions to technological applications and devices. These symptoms might include a lack of interpersonal skills stemming from overuse of devices or virtual reality environments, for example, which is why I recommend moderation in any implementation of new technologies.

Due to the requirements of the Paris Climate Accord, many countries will soon need to take measurable actions toward implementing renewable energy technologies. This will create significant job opportunities in the manufacturing, construction, and installation of products that serve these needs. One study found that this alone could create up to 10 million new jobs in the fields of wind energy, solar energy, and energy efficiency.

Additionally, any field related to what is known as “soft human skills,” including emotional intelligence, creativity and social skills, will have a higher value in the job market of the future, providing people who have those skills with new and interesting job options.

From my own observations, I have identified several additional factors that make some jobs harder to automate, which include the following:

1. Jobs that Don’t Involve Large Quantities of Data: None of the jobs listed in the three categories above deal with the analysis or collection of large amounts of data. In contrast, consider the kinds of work performed by someone in the financial sector, in which numbers and trends are a big part of everyday tasks. Obviously, this does not imply that all jobs in a field like finance will be lost to AI technologies; simply that they will be generally easier to replace than those that do not deal with data. Additionally, the implementation of AI tools that collect and analyze data may create new kinds of jobs that do not yet exist.
2. Jobs Based on Human Interaction: Each of the jobs listed above involves some degree of interpersonal communication. This will always be an area in which humans will be superior to AI systems. For this reason, developing strong communication skills will likely raise your value in the job markets for these types of occupations in the future.
3. Jobs that Have Minimal Repetition or Routine: Because repetitive tasks are one thing that robotic tools excel at, the jobs that vary greatly from day to day are less likely to be replaced easily by AI technologies.
4. Jobs that are Difficult to Learn Through Simple Observation: AI tools rely on monitors and cameras to collect data and to learn. Therefore, jobs requiring a high degree of intuition or flexibility will be harder to replace.

Take a moment to consider these four factors, thinking of several occupations and where they might land on a scale of jobs that are easier or harder to replace with AI tools. The more often you repeat this exercise, the better you’ll be able to comprehend the skills and job markets that will continue to thrive in the future.