4 Signs That Your Job Could Be Stolen By A Robot
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This is not a joke, even though it sounds like a bad sci-fi movie or the title of a smudgy xeroxed screed being circulated amongst conspiracy theorists. I just read an article in Fast Company citing a recent Oxford University study that shows how almost half (47% ) of current jobs could be done by machines in the fairly near future.



Reading this article sent me on an internet search for “jobs in danger of being automated” (btw, a search I would have done with the aid of a librarian, 20 years ago). I found a lot of references to the above study, so I finally went to the study itself, by researchers Carl Frey and Michael Osborne. It’s fascinating reading – and my key take-away was the jobs least at risk are those that require the highest degree of “perception and manipulation, creative intelligence, and social intelligence.”



In other words, you should start looking over your shoulder for your Rosie the Robot replacement if your job:





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Is based on repetitive physical tasks. This is where we’ve already seen the most automation (think assembly lines) – and with advances in robotics, increasingly complex yet still repetitive tasks will be able to be done cost-effectively by machines. This could include a wide variety of jobs – from building custom furniture to doing routine surgical procedures.



Involves responding correctly to repetitive quantitative data. Two good examples of this: the self-checkout counters now available at most grocery stores, and do-it-yourself tax programs. Although there are still bugs to work out here, it’s clear that things will keep moving in this direction, and expand to include a wider variety of jobs. Some possible casualties: fast-food counter attendants, computer repair technicians, and actuaries.



Doesn’t require relationship-building. Machines – Siri notwithstanding – are not good at building relationships with people; human relationships are complex entities that shift continually and require a complex mixture of logic and intuition, plus all five senses. If your job doesn’t require you to interface well with other people – you’re probably at risk. Over the next twenty years, Osborne and Frey predict, most jobs that don’t require social and emotional intelligence will be partially or fully automated. If you sit in a room by yourself all day and do something, even if it’s a fairly complex something, you’re a prime candidate for machine take-over. Except for the following exception…



Can be reduced to algorithms. If your job can be done by applying a mathematical calculation – no matter how complex – and then acting based on upon the outcome, it will probably ultimately be automateable. Driverless cars are a much-talked-about example of this. But if your job depends upon what Frey and Osborne call “creative intelligence,” even if you don’t interface with others, you’re probably safe. That is, if what you do depends upon coming up with new or unique solutions or approaches, your job will be hard to automate. Artists, novelists, philosophers, brewers and inventors are pretty automation-proof, for instance. And if your job requires both social and creative intelligence – that is, if it depends on working with others to solve complex problems in personalized ways – then you’re probably less at risk of automation than almost anyone. Therapists, coaches, teachers, consultative salespeople, and personal service providers come to mind.



So, if you’re hoping to keep your job for a long time, find a career that requires building strong relationships and thinking in fresh ways.