This is the start of a new, limited blog series, titled “The Age of Automation.” The purpose of these blog posts will be the spread of information on automation. The best way to communicate any type of warning or message would be over the vast spaces of the Internet. Why? I want people to find this content and learn about automation and its disruptive impact. After all, if I’m so passionate and determined to make the public aware of the looming crisis that is job automation, I’d be a fool to not take advantage of the most powerful tool known to humankind—my brain. Just kidding. The Internet.
With all that is going on with the world, things seem rather bleak. We just got out of a major pandemic which will be remembered by my generation and the next for the rest of our lives. It was truly the first taste of “living through history,” as Lex Fridman puts it, that Gen Z felt. Now, after the pandemic is thought to be over, a new historical event in the 21st century has turned the world upside down. Since no one needs a rundown of the events that have occurred since the start of the year/decade, I will save my many thoughts on these topics for another time. Right now, I want to talk about a lesser-known but equally disruptive topic. Automation is happening behind the scenes, and when it makes itself known, people will be asking themselves, How did we not see this coming?
If you are in the dark on what automation actually means, I’m not surprised. The conversation around automation simply doesn’t exist in abundance for people to be scared/worried/anxious/informed. There have been fragments of discussion in recent years: Joe Rogan and Andrew Yang; Elon Musk discussing UBI; the AI for Gen Z book (released by yours truly). However, it seems that these are simply surface level conversations at best (except for the latter). I have not come across anyone who is shouting from the mountain tops at this near-existential event. In the words of a particularly purple villain, I’ll do it myself. I label automation as “existential” because it will reconfigure how people look at themselves, the world, their purpose, and their future. It also may spur on domestic violence, homicide, suicide, riots, lootings, cyberattacks, and things equal or worse. No one should shrug off automation. Its a crisis which will impact billions and displace tens of millions.
Automation means replacing jobs and tasks with robots or artificial intelligence (AI). In recent years, these aforementioned technologies have reached a level of competence akin to humans. Companies are metaphorically licking their lips at the prospect of getting rid of 25-50% of their staff and replacing them with machines (physical and/or digital) which do not need to be paid, given benefits or time off, and can work as much as possible or needed. Low end jobs, such as cashiers, warehouse employees, janitors (sorry Will), data entry clerks, and more will be axed relatively quickly. These jobs have no real complexity to them; they are repetitive, boring, and easily replaceable. This is not my opinion. I do not mean to offend or criticize those that are working in these jobs. I am simply stating how companies and the marketplace look at these jobs. Those who work hard and make their money from these low-wage jobs are thought of as dispensable or fungible—soon, they will be treated as such.
You’ve now been informed of the current trajectory the world is on. If you are in a low-wage, entry-level job, you must expect to be replaced in the coming years. I am not a fan of giving vague timelines while telling people to reconfigure their lives. But there is really no other choice. I will not say, “take it easy guys. It’s not happening anytime soon.” This would be absolute mis- and disinformation. People in these positions must take the necessary steps—researching how your job will change and re-skilling to maximize your chances of staying employed.
To end off, I’d like to discuss a news article I received from this week’s “The Batch” newsletter run by Andrew Ng. It stated that automation predictions/expectations will fall short. According to the article, automation predictions are falling short because their is a shortage of Machine Learning engineers. This means that companies with automation goals will not meet these goals. (I am aware that in the previous paragraph, I stated its happening soon, and in this paragraph, I have said that predictions are being pushed back. Let me clear this up. Just because its pushed back doesn’t mean its not happening soon.)
This is great news—as someone who enjoys being right in terms of analysis and prediction, I am ecstatic at being wrong. It means that people will have more time to understand their future, research the best paths forward, and re-skill themselves to better adapt to the fast-changing marketplace. A major win for the to-be-replaced.
My aim for these posts isn’t to drag on with humdrum sentences and boring research that no one connects with. I want to state a point, back it up, and send it out into the void that is the Internet. If you know someone who will benefit from this content, please do share it with them. The only way for us to energize this conversation of automation is to share it with those that will be effected. With that being said, thank you for reading this post. I hope you learned something about the future we are heading towards, together.