Donald A. Collins

As Population Expands, Techies Beware As AI and Big Data Could Take Your Job Away

By Donald A. Collins | 20 February 2020
Church and State

The supposition that techies are going to be okay as population continues to grow in developed countries is belied by an article which appeared in Electronic Engineering Magazine recently.

On this site we have long opined on the surge in population as reducing jobs for many, particularly the less educated, but this piece focuses on engineers with skills which now are going to be at least partially overwhelmed by robots.

According to a recent report released by Oxford Economics, millions of laborers in the manufacturing sector are projected to lose their jobs to robots by 2030 — 20 million laborers to be exact.
And while most of the impact is expected to be felt by lower-skilled laborers, many economists agree that as technology advances, there simply will not be enough jobs to go around. The industries expected to be least impacted by technology are those that will always require a “human touch.” This includes the arts, social work, and any other job functions requiring creativity, compassion, and social intelligence, according to Oxford.
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For us engineers, there exists a dichotomy. The future will be autonomous vehicles, drones that predict nuclear meltdowns, generative algorithms…, but none of it will come into being unless we (engineers) roll up our sleeves and build the world sci-fi novels have been envisioning for decades. While we are called to create the future, the data all suggests the same outcome: the technologies we are building will eventually replace us.
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We live in a complex era. While it’s exciting to see Trekkie technologies take shape in the real world, we simultaneously see how these technologies can create massive waves of unemployment across the globe (which some economists argue will make things such as universal income a norm). Still, every thorn is attached to a rose. With less time spent in a cubicle, we could spend our days enjoying our families, making art, and creating yet more inventions for an even more progressive future.

Yes, there are always new options for innovators but as AI looms and other assaults occur, more and more of us, including those with high skills gone obsolete may to their surprise find themselves unemployed!!

"It is in the moments we encounter robots in the grocery store and humanoids at the front desks of hotels that we realize we are already living in the future."
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— Church and State (@ChurchAndStateN) February 20, 2020

Former US Navy officer, banker and venture capitalist, Donald A. Collins, a free lance writer living in Washington, DC., has spent over 40 years working for women’s reproductive health as a board member and/or officer of numerous family planning organizations including Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Guttmacher Institute, Family Health International and Ipas. Yale under graduate, NYU MBA. He is the author of From the Dissident Left: A Collection of Essays 2004-2013.

From the Dissident Left: A Collection of Essays 2004-2013