On Wednesday 29 January I shall be moderating the Automation and Robotics conference in Dublin. Please find detials here.
Here are my opening remarks with thanks to Forbes, PwC and Quartz for information.
Future of Automation,
AI and Robotics
Consulting firm PwC studied last year the impact of robotics and AI on a global scale and found that vulnerabilities do exist for job loss due to automation and robotics, especially over the longer term as smart technologies like driverless cars mature. However, through the early 2020s, only about 3% of jobs have the potential to be displaced. PwC also predicts that robotics, AI and smart automation have the potential to contribute more than $15 trillion towards the global gross domestic product by 2030, generating demand for more jobs.
- Robots can’t replace humans
Technologists and engineers will be needed to develop and
maintain AI-based systems and smart automation. Other professionals such as
teachers, caregivers and creatives will still have jobs. However, they’ll need
to “retool” themselves and adjust to a tech-friendly environment.
The bigger upside for the human
workforce is that, by automating the more mundane, repetitive or back-breaking
tasks, more jobs can focus on higher-level skills that involve innovation,
creativity, empathy, complex decision processes or teamwork.
No one ever said please let me back on the
production line..
2. Robots won’t eliminate the human touch.
People in professions like sales, customer support, health care and education will continue to be valued because of their ability to build trust with people, motivate them and help them meet complex objectives. Robots can’t easily replicate empathy and people skills — even if several companies are working on it.
3. Robots
and humans will continue to collaborate.
In industrial settings, there are
collaborative robots, or co-bots, that can safely work alongside humans without
being behind a cage. The robotic arm or cart has sensors that stop its motion
if a person touches it or if an object is detected in its path. Such co-bots
are already working alongside humans in warehouses and factories.
In retail environments, AI-based
systems like chatbots or virtual personal assistants can answer routine
questions from consumers and have the smarts to escalate a customer interaction
to a human agent to tackle more complex request.
And drones
are being used to drop off emergency medical supplies to save
lives.
In short, the collaboration
between humans and AI-based systems has the potential to make a company more
efficient, productive and profitable.
4. More
jobs will be created.
It’s rare that an entire job
category is wiped out by automation. The case has been made that in the history
of the industrial revolution, only
one job — elevator operator — was eliminated by technology. Census study from 1950. While the
government has removed other occupations from the Census due
to factors like lack of demand (boardinghouse keepers) and
technological obsolescence (telegraph operators), only elevator operators
owe their occupation’s demise mostly to automation.
Yes, the tasks humans are assigned
are being reshaped by automation, with more emphasis on jobs that center on
innovation, teaching or mentoring, and leadership. Over the long term, a net
gain in jobs may materialize as entirely new jobs are created
or old ones are redefined.
The future may also not be job defined. We will need to educate our kids for jobs as yet to be invented or maybe for not working at all. Maybe our future is to be full time leisure enthusiastics where every day is a weekend day.
