Will robots be taking over your job?

Employment has been built into our very own DNA, becoming an inseparable part of the human experience. However, technological change has continually reshaped the way humans work.

The First Industrial Revolution mechanized production using steam power. The second enabled mass production using electric power. The third automated production using electronics and information technology. Today, the global economy stands on the brink of a Fourth Industrial Revolution, the most complex and transformative transition humankind has experienced yet. Artificial intelligence, robotics, blockchain technology and the Internet of Things characterize this movement. With these technological improvements come higher productivity, safety, and convenience. But disruption can be an opportunity as well as a challenge. These technologies also raise issues about jobs, skills, wages, and the nature of work itself.

Many activities that workers perform today have the potential to be automated. A 2017 McKinsey Report calculated that the adaptation of currently demonstrated automation technologies could affect 50% of the world economy, or 1.2 billion employees and $14.6 trillion in wages. Unlike previous industrial revolutions where low-skilled workers are mainly affected, Industry 4.0 creates machines that are starting to have cognitive capabilities, enabling them to fulfill even jobs that require complicated training and education. Hence, if education systems are not able to keep pace with the changing nature of work, a larger number of jobs will be affected, contributing to unemployment, inequality, and other social issues.

Will robots soon be taking over your job? Probably. But what exactly are you doing to address this issue?