Tech

Will You Lose Your Job to a Robot? The fear Is Real

By

Swarnali Datta

Life is all about an alternative; be it a career path or an app, it’s good to have option B ready for the what-if situations in life; the best instance of which is found in the tech world.

But sometimes the alternate option induces a nerve-wracking fear in us, so much so, that one might even steep into the abyss of depression or anxiety. Wondering which alternative are we talking about? Well, it’s the most talked about replacement of all times- will robots replace human beings at work?

The fear is real

It’s true; new technologies like robots or artificial intelligence (AI) will play a significant role in shaping the future. While this replacement will be embraced with open arms in other aspects of life, the very idea of this will cast a dark cloud over many.

According to a new study, nearly half of UK jobs run the risk of being taken over by a machine. Artificial intelligence (AI) posed a medium to high risk of replacing 45% of occupations, including those of taxi drivers, dental nurses, and sales and customer service representatives. Data analysts examined more than 400 jobs to determine the likelihood that they might be affected by automation or AI in the ensuing decades.

According to the findings, the lowest-paying jobs are at the highest risk of becoming automated because they involve repetitive tasks that require little decision-making or creativity. For instance, delivery and bus drivers could be readily replaced as their routes could be put into a machine with no need for human thought. Receptionists, nursing assistants, dental nurses, and taxi drivers are further low-paying professions that face competition from automation.

However, high degrees of critical thinking and decision-making are necessary for higher-paying professions like law and medicine, which cannot be replicated by a machine. Mechanical engineers, paramedics, head teachers, and medical professionals are others who earn a considerably higher amount of money. Similar to this, AI and automation cannot take over many creative vocations. For instance, fashion designers make decisions based on human judgement and consideration of trends and cultural factors.

So, until the day robots take over or the law catches up, what can workers do to safeguard themselves against automation?

Also read: Gaining Insight on the Probability of ChatGPT Replacing Google!

1 Expansion of higher education

High returns imply that it makes sense to increase access to higher education, provided that the expansion is founded on efficiency and equity. Passing on the costs to the general taxpayer is not the ideal plan for growing higher education. It is far preferable to spend future income to pay for current education.

2 Learning the skills that increase employability and productivity

Increased productivity and global economic expansion depend on skills. Even though access to education has increased over the past few decades, some say that there hasn’t been much of an impact on overall factor productivity and growth. This could be a measurement issue, a supply problem (irrelevant or low-quality skills provided in educational institutions), a demand constraint, or a combination of all three.

Despite high unemployment rates in some nations, the skills premium is rising, implying that there is a rising demand for skills. In some nations, skilled worker unemployment is very high.

Economic growth is changing the kinds of skills that are needed. It has previously been established that in the United States, since the 1980s, when returns to education and income inequality began to rise, the demand for manual and routine cognitive labor has been continuously dropping while the demand for non-routine analytic and interactive labor has increased. The number of jobs requiring social skills is likewise rising quickly.

3 Go for the relevant skills

Prior to investing later, invest in the necessary abilities. The necessary skills can be summed up as follows:

  • Problem-solving skills, the ability to think critically and analyze;
  • Learning skills, the capacity to pick up new information;
  • Communication skills, including reading and writing;
  • Personal skills for risk management, sound judgement, and self-management; and
  • Social skills to work with others, inspire others in a team, manage client relations, exercise leadership, settle disputes, and develop social networks.

For certain nations, having the appropriate talents may not be sufficient; it’s also important to have a labour market that encourages the acquisition and application of those abilities.

Also read: The Tech Trends Likely to Affect Our Lives in 2023!

To sum it up

We understand that the fear is real. But the future is just a dark universe where a mere assumption like this is like throwing an arrow into the dark universe. We’d advise you to find out the risk of being replaced by a robot and work on your skills accordingly. To find out if your job has the risk of being replaced by AI, ask online generator tools like AI Career Risk tool.

John says, “Although this might be a concern in the near future, there are a lot of benefits to AI and automation. It will increase productivity, especially in creative fields, and it will be able to take over repetitive tasks and free up workers for other things that require thinking.”

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