Hi, I’m Elizabeth. Hi, I'm RoboThespian. Nice to meet you. Likewise. This is a humanoid robot, which means it looks,
it talks, and it even acts, well, like a human. So does that mean it could take
a human’s job like mine? You better believe it. Nah, I’m only joking.
Not really. There’s no denying robots and automation
are increasingly part of our daily lives. Just look around the
grocery store, or the highway. Or in the case of RoboThespian
here, even at the theater. I’m singin' in the rain, just
singin' in the rain. The rise of robots has led to some pretty
scary warnings about the future of work. Robots will be able to do
everything better than us. A recent study found up to 670,000 U.S. jobs
were lost to robots between 1990 and 2007. And that number is
likely to go up. A widely-cited study from 2013 found
nearly half of all jobs in the U.S. are in danger of being automated
over the next 20 years. Occupations that require
repetitive and predictable tasks in transportation, logistics and administrative
support were especially high-risk. And just think, robots don’t need health benefits,
vacation or even sleep for that matter. But the debate over whether robots will take
over all of our jobs is by no means settled. Many economists argue automation
will ultimately create new jobs. After all, someone has to
program the robots, right? Let’s go back to the 1850s, when trains were
the most popular mode of transportation. This chart shows the number of locomotive
engineers, railroad conductors and brakemen increasing by nearly 600%. But that
growth slowed in the early 1900s. Why? You guessed it.
The automobile came along. Car mechanic and repairman jobs surged even
though railroad jobs began to disappear. And some companies say the same thing will
happen when robots move into the marketplace. A survey of 20,000 employers from 42 countries
found that the IT, customer service and advanced manufacturing industries will add workers
over the next two years as a result of automation. It’s hard to imagine that robots could
replicate human characteristics, like empathy or compassion,
that are required in many jobs. I mean, would you really want a robot
as your nurse, babysitter or teacher? But even if robots don’t take our jobs
entirely, research shows they will significantly change day-to-day
tasks in the workplace. This is particularly a problem for lower-skilled
workers who aren’t able to retrain for new jobs. They might get stuck with lower
wages in a world with more robots, and that could make
income inequality even worse. These guys are making a lot
of things uncertain right now. But one thing that’s clear
is skills training is required if we hope to get along with
friends like them in the workplace. I think we’re going to
get along just fine. Hey everyone it’s Elizabeth
and RoboThespian here. Thanks so much for
watching our video. You can check out more
of our videos all the time, including one about
universal basic income, over here on
our YouTube page. While you’re at it, leave us some
ideas in the comments section and subscribe
to our channel. See you later!
