The Robots Will Probably Take Our Jobs, but Should We Really Be Worried?

Now, there is no question that artificial intelligence and robots will be a regular part of the workforce in the near future. They could take over as much as 46% of the current jobs in the U.S. by 2030. Statistics like that are often used to point out why we should fight against automating jobs that humans are doing, but that isn't the whole picture.

"Robots will take all of our jobs!" is perhaps the most pervasive talking point in the debates about workplace automation. The idea that robots, humanoid or otherwise, can simply step in and replace human workers, leaving huge swaths of the workforce with no marketable skills, is not at all aligned with reality.

1. Workers may be replaced, but not in the way they think.

First of all, AI and robotics aren't new concepts. The only thing that has changed is how capable robots have become at accomplishing certain types of tasks.

A recent paper published on GPT and LLM technology decided to remove the "replace vs. augment" dichotomy entirely, instead focusing on "exposure" as a proxy to measure how this kind of AI could potentially impact jobs.

This doesn't mean the AI can take over a task altogether. Instead, exposure means it could complete a significant amount of their tasks, freeing up big chunks of time.

The researchers found that blue-collar workers, who are generally the main focus of the "taking our jobs" myth, are the least affected by exposure. Instead, the top 19% of jobs with the greatest exposure are white-collar finance, programming, writing, and information processing positions. Essentially, the higher-wage jobs are the ones most likely to have 50% or more of their tasks automated by AI.

However, it's true that robots are already being integrated into factories, warehouses, and other blue-collar industries, but this also isn't something to fear. What is less talked about is that there is also data to show that increased automation typically means increased hiring in the long run.

A 2021 study found that organizations that embrace automation actually do more hiring than their non-automated competitors. This is because the huge productivity boost that comes from the addition of AI and robotics means they need more workers to help meet the increased productivity levels. Robots give these businesses a competitive advantage, allowing them to take a greater market share, meaning expansion, job creation, and additional employment opportunities.

2. The employment landscape will change, but it's likely for the better.

Before smartphones were so pervasive, we couldn't have imagined jobs like phone screen glass repair, cell phone salesperson, or stylish phone case designer. Now, we can barely imagine life without all of these people.

The same goes for the advent of AI and robotics. We're only beginning to scratch the surface of how this tech will become integrated into our lives, so we don't yet have a frame of reference for what jobs it will create.

However, there are already new professions cropping up. For instance, as multiple language models have been created, the jobs of those who develop AI models and robots have changed dramatically. 

Now, there are entire job fields dedicated to "prompt engineering," which didn't exist in this capacity even a few years ago. There is a need for people who understand how to "ask the right questions" to get the desired results from a robot and a requirement for those who know how to catalog prompts, analyze them and look for trends.

One expert notes that “critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving skills cannot be replaced by machines,” meaning humans cannot be completely replaced. Millions of new jobs for humans are becoming available, though much of it is behind-the-scenes "unseen labor." It even has a name: ghost work.

For instance, Duke University was testing an AI-driven clinical decision support system called Sepsis Watch in hospitals to help predict a patient's risk of sepsis. It's a leading cause of hospital death because it is hard to diagnose and treat quickly enough.

While the technology worked extremely well, there was an unexpected problem: Doctors and nurses had to figure out how to appropriately integrate this tech into their communications. Researchers call this type of labor "repair work" – "using human intelligence and creativity to make a technology actually effective in a specific context, and to weave that technology into existing work practices, power dynamics, and cultural contexts."

By nature, this is something AI and robots can never do, and it's also something that gets very little attention in the "robots are taking our jobs" conversation. As robotics continue to advance and become able to augment more jobs, we will need plenty of humans with the ability to contextualize who can help to innovate and integrate these new technologies into everyday situations.

Google senior research scientist Madeleine Elish sums it up nicely: "An AI solution, in theory, doesn’t actually get us very far. Responsible implementation comes from focusing on how individuals will be empowered to use the solution in a particular context."

3. There will be potential for financial benefits all around.

Another primary concern of workers is that wages will be worse if robots are "doing their jobs." The reality is that workers should instead think about ways robots could be effectively integrated into their work processes to benefit from the increased safety, efficiency, and production that come with automation.

Soaring inflation has caused the costs of human labor to drastically increase, meaning companies are always looking for ways to cut the considerable expense of human workers. This often comes in the form of laying off employees and shifting their work onto the remaining staff, usually with little or no pay increase for the additional workload.

The typical Western labor issues usually look like this: Human labor becomes more expensive, so production costs increase, end product costs rise, and consumers (who are also laborers) demand higher wages to compensate for the inflation.

If this work could be given over to robots instead, the entire cycle of wage inflation could be upended. Now, robots can increase production efficiency without the ongoing, ever-increasing cost of human labor. Wharton professor Lynn Wu notes that, in many cases, the use of robots actually laid the groundwork for better, performance-based pay rates and reduced workplace injuries, meaning less risk of being out of work for extended periods.

Will adding robots to the workforce create the pristine, science fiction utopia books and movies always show us? Probably not. Will it usher in a perfect era of hybrid intelligence, allowing humans and robots to work together seamlessly? Also doubtful; there are always challenges that come along with any new technology.

However, robotics and automation do have the potential to positively impact employment in a way that benefits workers as well as business owners. From improved hiring and better pay scales to recognizing the new employment possibilities that come with the advent of AI, the prospect of robots "taking our jobs" has the potential to be an exciting, revolutionary time. If businesses invest in upskilling or reskilling, and workers are willing to learn, which 93% of Gen Z and millennial workers are, the idea of a hybrid workforce can succeed in ways we cannot yet imagine.