THE HUMAN ISSUE
HUMANS VERSUS ROBOTS
HELP ! THE BOTS ARE COMING TO TAKE OUR JOBS ! ARE THEY , REALLY ? TO A LARGE DEGREE , YES THEY ARE . WE TAKE A LOOK BACK AT THE HISTORY OF AUTOMATION , AND SPOTLIGHT A FEW JOBS THAT ARE IN DANGER – PLUS JOBS THAT DEFINITELY AREN ’ T .
R obots are becoming smarter and smarter , it ’ s a fact . And , according to research from Oxford University , around 45 per cent of today ’ s jobs will disappear over the next 10 years . From building cars to performing life-saving operations , the capability of robots – or automation – is growing by the year . In many walks of life , processes that were previously manual are automated – but automation and artificial intelligence ( AI ) is nothing new : and its origins stretch back a lot further than you think .
Indeed , the first use of the word ‘ automation ’ came in Homer ’ s Iliad – all the way back in the 8th century . It was used to describe the self-moving machines that were built by Hephaestus .
Automation really started to take off during the late 18th and 19th centuries , however , during the industrial revolution . Back in the day , workers were fearful of the machines taking their jobs – the Swing Riots in England in 1930 resulted in protestors destroying agricultural machinery that was making a number of jobs redundant .
So machinery that replaces jobs that were previously manually performed have been around for a good while now , and it was the best part of a century ago that the world ’ s first robot – Elecktro – said hello to the world . He could walk , inflate balloons and , in a definite sign of the times , smoke a ciggie , too .
Over the decades that have followed , the use of robots has increased significantly . The term ‘ artificial intelligence ’ was first used in 1956 during a conference at Dartmouth University , while today , AI is embedded in almost every facet of our lives – from using our smartphones to playing online games , AI is present continuously .
So , as AI , automation and robotics continue to develop and grow , what sort of jobs could it make extinct in the not-toodistant future ?
Here are five jobs that are predicted to fall by the AI wayside sooner rather than later – and five that are unlikely be taken by the bots ! Hint : the ones that will stay rely on the interpretation of problems , human interaction and the ability to creatively arrive at solutions !
FIVE JOBS THAT THE BOTS WILL TAKE
1 DRIVERS
Driverless vehicles are most definitely on their way , and soon the technology will be well refined , meaning driving will become a choice , rather than a necessity . For businesses that rely on the transportation of goods , driverless vehicles will offer economic benefit as well the potential of safer and more efficient work .
16 GEMCELL . COM . AU DEC – JAN 2022