Jobs that don’t require advanced education will be replaced by automation, displacing low-wage, low-skilled workers. Courtesy Everett Collection Robots could be big job killers in the future, some experts
“We’re already at 12% of prime-aged men without jobs,” said Darrell West, vice president of the Brookings Institution think tank, at a forum in Washington, D.C. on Monday. That number has grown steadily over the past 60 years, but it could triple in the next 30 years because of new technology such as artificial intelligence and automation.
It could be even worse for some parts of the population, West argued. The rate for unemployment of young male African Americans, for instance, is likely to reach 50% by 2050.
“That, my friends, is a catastrophe,” West said.
Related: China really is to blame for millions of lost U.S. manufacturing jobs, new study finds
A lot of things can be done to avert such a problem and rethinking education is one of them, West said. “Schools need to change their curriculum so that students have the skills needed in the 21st century economy.”
Molly Kinder, senior adviser at progressive think tank New America, said the current state of manufacturing tells a story that will be seen see across many occupations. Jobs that don’t require advanced education will be replaced by automation, displacing low-wage, low-skilled workers.
Public policymakers need to make education, especially in technology, for low-skill workers a priority to combat the potential for soaring unemployment rates, she said. Full Story
The purpose of such articles is misdirection. They want to give the so-called educated elite a false sense of comfort that only low end paying jobs will be taken away. Otherwise, many parents might think twice about wasting a fortune on educating their kids for professions that will no longer be around.
Once AI is perfected, and it’s improving at mindboggling pace, the high-end logic based jobs will be the ones that are replaced at the fastest pace. Why would you target a street cleaner as opposed to top managers that are paid seven figures, get sick, take breaks and are susceptible to emotional breakdowns when a computer will never suffer from any of those issues and work 24/7 at a fraction of the cost? Logic states you would go after the areas that cost you the most, especially if the work can be done 5-10X faster, better and cheaper.
