Will Robots Take Away Our Jobs?
Robots will continue to impact the society we live in. In fact, their use is expected to grow at an alarming rate. In 2017, 1.5 million of the jobs in England were considered at high risk for being automated.
As more robots are designed, the number of jobs and tasks they will perform will increase. As you read earlier, the first robots performed only jobs that humans were incapable of performing—for example, handling extremely hot materials. Now, robots are taking on jobs that humans are used to doing.
Watch this video. As you watch, think about what may happen in the future in regards to jobs and robots.
| Keyboard Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Space | Pause/Play video playback |
| Enter | Pause/Play video playback |
| m | Mute/Unmute video volume |
| Up and Down arrows | Increase and decrease volume by 10% |
| Right and Left arrows | Seek forward or backward by 5 seconds |
| 0-9 | Fast seek to x% of the video. |
| f | Enter or exit fullscreen. (Note: To exit fullscreen in flash press the Esc key. |
| c | Press c to toggle captions on or off |
NARRATOR: Robotic grippers have already made their way onto the factory floor, attached to massive robotic arms that are as robust as they are precise.
They build cars, lift heavy boxes, pack beer, sort through anything and everything, from batteries to pancakes doing the kind of jobs many people consider repetitive and downright boring.
But some experts fear as robots move beyond the factory into the real world, they'll take on a lot more.
GARY MARCUS: I think that we will lose at least 20% or 30% of our jobs over the next 20 years, and probably more.
Fast food workers are mostly going to be replaced.
The cashiers at Wal-Mart, their jobs aren't going to last that much longer. The first to go are going to be drivers.
Uber is spending a lot of money on driverless cars
Google is spending a lot of money. Now Toyota is. Years from now, there are not going to be a lot of jobs.
NARRATOR: But not everyone agrees the future looks quite so grim. Over the past century, while robots and automation took over many manufacturing jobs, other kinds of jobs have increased. Some think that trend will continue.
TERESA GHILARDUCCI: Machines in all of modern economic history have helped create jobs, not taken them away.
Machines are complements to workers, not substitutes.
They come together and enhance the productivity of each. They need each other.
NARRATOR: Today, more and more jobs require humans to work side-by-side with robots on the assembly line, programming them and repairing them. Technology creates new jobs.
But only for those who have the skills to adapt. What happens to the workers left behind?
GHILARDUCCI: The worker who was displaced has to be compensated through retraining or through a pension. So that's a social problem, not a problem rooted in technology.
MARCUS: People should already be thinking about what kind of society we would want if not everybody can have jobs.
Take Notes
After watching this video, write down your response to the following: Do you think robots will complement or replace humans in the workplace? What evidence from the video supports your idea(s)?
