10 Jobs Destined For Robots
The machines are coming for some of our jobs. Be afraid or welcome our new robot overlords, as you prefer.
![](https://eu-images.contentstack.com/v3/assets/blt69509c9116440be8/blta6ca481f3a0c01e1/64cb571a5a4a0634e564ae66/robot.png?width=700&auto=webp&quality=80&disable=upscale)
The robots are coming, and they want our jobs. That's progress. In the 20th century, they wanted our women.
Actually, the robots don't want all of our jobs. They're said to be capable of competing for about 47% of them, at least in the US, given current technological expectations. So only half of us will need to retrain. The other option is to join the Resistance. Who knew The Terminator was an employment double entendre?
The other half of us should get used to being lonely on the job, which may evolve into making sure our mechanized colleagues don't malfunction or do something unexpected. Small consolation though it may be, if you're the last human on the factory floor, you won't need to worry about turning out the lights when you leave. That's the sort of task robots do very well.
Google's acquisition of seven robotics and technology companies in the past six months and its decision to give its nascent robotics business to former Android chief Andy Rubin suggests a serious commitment to automation. This isn't a Google Wave-style expeditionary mission. It's a beachhead that will allow the company to expand beyond the ocean of ones and zeroes and into the territory of manufacturing, logistics, and commerce.
Automation has been a reality in manufacturing for years. But now that we're getting to the point of changing state laws to allow driverless vehicles, it's clear the robot revolution won't remain confined to factories.
Google's competitors are advancing the state of the art. Last year, Amazon bought Kiva Systems, the maker of the robots it uses to carry goods in its warehouses, for $775 million.
In fact, robots are already here among us. You just don't see them because they're hard to recognize, or they operate outside the public view.
According to the International Federation of Robotics, industrial robot shipments in the US increased 9% from 2011 to a record 22,414 units in 2012. From 2014 to 2016, global robot installations are expected to increase an average of 6% per year. At the end of 2012, there were 1.2 million to 1.5 million operational industrial robots in the world.
Losing a job to a machine may be a tragedy on a personal level, but it could be quite desirable on a macroeconomic scale. An Information Technology and Innovation Foundation paper published in September argues that fear of robots amounts to neo-Luddism, and that we should deploy more robots to increase productivity, which will improve the economy.
Though the paper veers from supported argument to dubious speculation in places (as when it states, "There is no upward limit to our desire to consume"), it may be that things will work out in the end between humans and robots -- at least in terms of our relationship with deferential, unarmed machines. But it's worth wondering whether the ITIF will change its tune when robots become capable of filling executive and managerial roles.
Click the image above to explore a few jobs that robots are already doing or have demonstrated the ability to do. Be afraid or welcome our new robot overlords, as you prefer.
If you work for an Amazon fulfillment center, you've already seen the future: scurrying little robots that carry racks of packages to and fro. Kiva Systems, the maker of Amazon's bots, is hiring systems support engineers. However, the educational requirements appear to be substantial. Maybe they'll accept a philosophy degree.
UCSF Medical Center is using "a family of giant robots" to dispense medication from its pharmacy. When the system debuted in 2011, it made no errors in 350,000 doses of medication. Beat that, human.
Harvest Automation positions its farming robot as a way to address labor scarcity issues. Hard though it may be to believe, the median income from farm work -- between $2,500 and $5,000 per year -- just doesn't
attract enough people.
PotashCorp, the world's largest fertilizer producer, recently hired the engineering firm AMEC to map a tailings pond in Atlantic Canada. It used Clearpath's Kingfisher robot boat and gathered 100 times more data in one-eighth of the time the job had taken previously -- for 60% less cost.
Google's self-driving cars aren't available to the general public, but they've already logged more than half a million miles in tests. Volvo plans to test its own self-driving cars in 2017. The idea may seem unappealing on open roads, but when you're crawling through rush hour traffic, maybe it wouldn't hurt to let the computer take over for a while.
Ford recently showed one of its cars parking itself. Combine that with an app to find parking spaces, and you're set. If you can find a space, you won't need a valet. It's time to imagine the job as parking space broker.
NASA's Mars rovers have done quite well without a person on board. They made up for the absence of astronauts with a legion of technical support personnel focused on remote navigation. Still, it would have been nice to have a human on Mars who could recognize signs of past or present life, rather than dancing around the issue for years.
UAV stands for "unmanned aerial vehicle," but there are plenty of men and women running them on the ground. The pay is apparently good, though the work is said to be mostly boring. Another automation opportunity?
In 2010, South Korean military officials installed robot sentries to defend their country against intrusions from North Korea via the demilitarized zone. The SGR-1 robot sentries are equipped with sensors and a machine gun and can fire real or rubber bullets. Their surveillance functions are automated, but firing decisions remain with human operators for now.
Forbes still employs human writers, but the publication has been augmenting the output of its writers with computer-generated stories. Created using technology from Narrative Science, the stories aren't moving personal accounts or hard-hitting investigative pieces. But they're free of egregious errors and adequately convey factual data. Just wait until they can compile top 10 lists.
Forbes still employs human writers, but the publication has been augmenting the output of its writers with computer-generated stories. Created using technology from Narrative Science, the stories aren't moving personal accounts or hard-hitting investigative pieces. But they're free of egregious errors and adequately convey factual data. Just wait until they can compile top 10 lists.
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