Job Postings
Percentage of Matching Job Postings (%)
1.0 0.9 |
May 2017
Machine Learning
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0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 |
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2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
Figure 1 : Indeed . com shows trends in job postings around machine learning , and other emerging spaces .
Other examples are more blue collar . Self-driving technology that manufacturers have spent years to perfect is now ready for prime time . While this means that we can crawl into our cars and perhaps take a nap on the way home , it also means that self-driving trucks and taxis also become the norm .
According to a new report by Goldman Sachs , the effect is pretty devastating . Self-driving cars and trucks could drain 25,000 jobs per month — or 300,000 per year — from America ’ s bus , taxi , and truck industries when they finally hit the market .
In 2014 , approximately 4 million people drove professionally in the United States , 3.1 million of which were part of the trucking industry . That majority , coupled with the fact that companies like Uber and Tesla are already working to develop self-driving freight transport technology , means that truck drivers could bear the brunt of the predicted job losses . Additionally , the long distances and demanding nature of the work also make trucking a prime target for automation .
A bit concerning is that those driving trucks and taxis ( or Ubers ) are likely to be the head of the household , thus the primary breadwinner . As a result , many families could be forced into welfare and food stamp roles until those workers who are displaced by self-driving technology are able to pivot to another career path , which could take more than a year .
Others affected by automation , and specially AI-based automation , include factory workers who have been replaced over the years by robotic technology . While this is nothing new to factories , even the limited number of humans needed to run the robots could find that they are now facing job loss as factories move from 2.0 to 3.0 in robotic technology that actually eliminates humans from machine maintenance jobs . Indeed , AI may enable the “ dark factory ” in just a few years , where a few people who man a control booth are all that ’ s needed for a vast production operation .
If you think that those who man data centers , including cloud computing data centers , have safe jobs , you would be wrong . While these impressive four-story windowless buildings , as big as shopping centers , would make you think of thousands employed inside , they rarely have more than a couple of dozen people who repair the physical equipment .
58 | THE DOPPLER | SUMMER 2017