KATHLEEN ELKINS
MAY 1, 2015, 11:15 AM
There’s a BakeBot robot whipping up fresh cookies at MIT; hospitals are now employing medical robots to assist their doctors; and a robot named Baxter can beat any human at the popular logic game Connect Four, among many other tasks.
“Historically what we thought was that robots would do things that were the three D’s: dangerous, dirty, and dull,” explains Ryan Calo, professor at University of Washington School of Law with an expertise in robotics. “Over time, the range of things that robots can do has extended.”
Their abilities will only continue to expand. Ray Kurzweil, director of engineering at Google, anticipates that by 2029 robots will have reached human levels of intelligence.
Many people fear a jobless future — and their anxiety is not unwarranted: Gartner, an information technology research and advisory firm, predicts that one-third of jobs will be replaced by software, robots, and smart machines by 2025
Will they work for minimum wage?
Actually, it’s the minimum wage, non-thinking, jobs that are most at risk from advancing technology. White collar jobs are eventually going to be taken over by smart software. It’s already happening. This is by far the biggest challenge facing mankind, that being what do we do about managing a society that is entirely built around “going to work”.
that’s why I TEACH MY KIDS TO WORK WITH YOUR HANDS
Well it was skilled blue collar jobs, then white collar jobs that were transitioned out… now the more menial jobs…there is also a deafening silence about the mass numbers of 6 figure jobs that are also disappearing (and it has been going on for a while)… it’s unstoppable
A lot of intermediaries, brokers and agents seem unnecessary. More direct transactions.
Will we need insurance agents? I can buy health insurance online, ehy not others? I use online systems, I do not use a travel agent.
1255 you’re right…then the challenge is that the job destruction and creation cycle is not replacing many jobs with ones of similar quality, if at all…