Will A Robot Do Your Job In The Future (+ How To Prevent It)

Will A Robot Do Yur Job In The Future (+ How To Prevent It) Will A Robot Do Your Job In The Future? (+ How To Prevent It)Posted September 15, 2016, by Vivien LuuEver since The Jetsons housekeeper Rosie hit the screens in 1962, its been easy to envision a bright shiny future where robots did all the dirty work, leaving us to bask in the glory of higher-order tasks (like George Jetsons delightful job of repeatedly pushing a single button all day). Well, you neednt imagine anymore. The future is here. Were on the verge of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, meaning that Artificial Intelligence (AI) and quantum computing are fast becoming a reality.Robots are providing customer service, driving cars, manning hotel reception desks, helping kids with autism, serving up martinis and even fighting cancer. IBMs supercomputer, Watson, has gone from being a contestant on Jeopardy (that absolutely obliterated its menschlich competition) to powering Ross, a cognitive megacomputer thats helpi ng lawyers sift through tens of thousands of legal documents to prepare for cases.Then theres Googles AI bot AlphaGo which has been programmed to use deep learning algorithms to master the ancient Korean game of Go a game thats widely accepted to be far more complex than chess. AlphaGos become so smart that it recently beat legendary Go world champion Lee Sedol by a convincing 4-1.Its safe to say that robots are here to stay, and they want our jobs.Is our future going to be Jetsons-like with attentive and charming Rosies, or are we headed down a dark Blade Runner-esque path where androids revolt and rebel?The Age of AutomationA seminal study lumineszenzdiode by Oxford academics Carl Benedikt Frey and Michael A. Osborne, titled The Future of Employment How susceptible are jobs to computerisation? has found that within the next 20 years, a whopping 47 per cent of jobs will be lost to robots. But lets be honest, its hard to feel particularly worried. I mean, this is going to happe n in some vague distant future that only Future You has to worry about. Well, thats what Id thought anyway. Until I did the research. Industries and jobs are being automated at an alarming rate. As we speak. In the last 2 years, Australian import and export company Patrick Stevedores has mirrored the logistics industrys trend towards automating jobs and cut almost 50% of jobs at its Port Botany dockyard. Apple and Samsung parts supplier Foxconn has reportedly replaced 60,000 factory workers with robots while Adidas is piloting a new Speedfactory this year (a facility that automates the entire shoe manufacturing process) with the aim of bringing robot-made shoes to market by 2017, thus reducing its dependency on offshore manufacturers. Self-driving cars should be making the taxi industry very nervous, with automated taxi pods currently being trialled in Englands Milton Keynes. The construction industry is similarly scrambling to retrain staff in response to the rise of prefa bricated homes with pre-wired, pre-plumbed modules. Not to sound overly dramatic, but THE BOTS ARE COMING.Which Jobs Are The Bots Gunning For?According to a seminal Oxford University study, the jobs that will be the first to go are ones with routine, repetitive and rules-based tasks that require little creative or social intelligence. The BBC has taken Frey and Osbornes data sets and plugged them into a nifty little calculator that gauges how at-risk your job is. Using this awesome tool, I found that the jobs with the highest risk of automation includeThe research highlights that most workers in transportation and logistics occupations, together with the bulk of office and administrative support workers are highly susceptible to automation. The reality is that machines will always be faster, stronger and more efficient than we can ever be at menial and repetitive tasks. Which means that low-skilled workers are the most vulnerable. Autodesk CEO Carl Bass quip sums it up bes t The factory of the future will have only two employees a man and a dog. The man will be there to feed the dog. The dog will be there to keep the man from touching the equipment. But this doesnt mean that white-collar jobs are entirely safe either. IBMs Watson is the perfect example of machine learning at its best, where large sets of data can now be computerised, and applied to sectors such as law and medicine. John Williams, Managing Partner of global consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, believes that many of todays jobs will disappear entirely The saatkorn thing that happened to blue collar workers in the 70s, 80s, 90s, is going to happen to white collar workers in the next ten to fifteen years, Williams told ABCs Four Corners. So what does this mean for the future of work? Will unemployed Future You zip around town in a driverless car, receive legal advice from a robot and have a computer doctor diagnose you when you fall ill?A Keynesian Dream Or A Sci-Fi Nightmar eIts important to remember that since the beginning of time, technological advancements have both killed jobs and created them. Seemingly, the inevitable shift towards automation should be no different. As Williams points out, There was an agrarian revolution, there was an industrial revolution, there was a computer revolution and each time weve found ways as a species to respond and create new jobs for people to do. What futurists and experts cant agree on, however, is the rate at which this will happen, and whether the creation of new jobs will outstrip the pace at which jobs are made obsolete. History suggests that when jobs are lost in a particular field, new ones are created in other sectors. But economists such as Erik Brynjolfsson point out that this may notlage necessarily be the case in light of exponential automation, which will be the biggest challenge our society faces over the next decade. Were going to enter a world in which theres more wealth and less need t o work, he told The New York Times. That should be good news. But if we just put it on autopilot, theres no guarantee this will work out. Brynjolfssons fears echo legendary economist Keynes prediction that widespread technology unemployment would one day hit our global economy, due to our discovery of means of economising the use of labour outrunning the pace at which we find new uses of labour.How To Beat The Robots At Their Own GameWith this seismic shift underfoot, its more important than ever to safeguard your career and future-proof your skills. Not convinced? Let me put it another way. If you lived in the late 1800s and were thinking of becoming a gas lamplighter, wouldnt you appreciate someone telling you, Hey you Theres this dude named Benjamin Franklin and another dude called Thomas Edison. Put your lamplight down we need to talk Get my point? So seriously, put your lamplighter down, you Luddite. Here are five ways to robot-proof your career1. Master things that m achines suck atExperts agree that robots are (for the time being anyway) less imaginative and far less emotionally intelligent than us philanthropischs. As Frey and Osbornes study reveals, the jobs that are least likely to be automated are the ones that involved creative and social tasks. We found there was a very clear, strong trend between the creative content of a job and its probability of computerisation and replacement by robots, Professor Osborne told The ABC.So, if youre in a shrinking industry or in a job thats under the threat of automation, its crucial that you make an effort to equip yourself with the skills that every employer wants in the future. This can involveHoning your communication skillsLearning how to manage othersGiving your EQ a boostGetting your creative juices flowingSharpening your negotiation skills2. Pivot, pivot, pivotNext, what you need to do is take the skills above and pivot into a different part of the industry one thats far less likely to be a utomated. So for example, if youve spent a decade working in logistics and know the dockyard like the back of your hand, amp up your communication skills and move into logistics consulting. While logistics and shipping companies like Patrick Stevedores may have automated some dockworker jobs, they still need people (especially those with actual experience) to advise them on how to streamline processes and improve protocols. Thats not something machines are capable of doing, particularly when different ports have different layouts and idiosyncrasies that only experienced hands are aware of.3. Retrain in a field thats boomingThe reality is that sometimes pivoting may not be an option. If this is the case, you might need to go the whole hog and completely retrain. But dont just retrain in any field. Be smart about it and retrain in one thats set to flourish far into the future. According to Australias Digital Pulse, a report cowritten by Deloitte and the Australian Computer Soc iety, the place to be right now is the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry. Australias digital economy is expected to grow significantly over the coming years. This growth will be fuelled by new waves of technological developments, the report states. It also says that the demand for ICT workers is predicted to increase.Heres an in-depth look at the 12 industries that will be worth billions if not trillions by 2025. Fields to watch include robotics, wearable technology, 3D printing and the internet of things. Interestingly, 7 of the 10 happiest jobs of 2016 were ICT jobs a testament to the fact that if youve got a high-demand skill set, you can expect better work conditions, more benefits, a higher salary and feel happier to boot But if youre not keen on IT, there are other fields to consider.4. Retrain in a job that will always need a human touchRoles that robots wont be stealing anytime soon include social workers, nurses, therapists and psychologists an d thats because caring for others is something that humans will always be superior at. Such roles demand a high degree of emotional intelligence, empathy and social perceptiveness which robots dont have (yet). Similarly roles like designers, architects and engineers wont be usurped by our robot friends anytime soon. Anything that requires you to think on your on your feet and come up with novel and innovative solutions puts you at an advantage. The same goes for managerial positions where strong people skills and the ability to coordinate with others puts your job out of reach of bots and machines.Jobs with the lowest risk of being automated (less than 2%) includeNurseCivil engineerArchitectOffice managerOccupational therapistMarketing and sales directorHotel manager Teacher (special needs)PsychologistHigh school teacher The industries least susceptible to automation areManagement and businessICTEngineering and scienceFinance Education Community services Creative artsHealth care5. Strike out on your ownLast but not least, theres always the option to become your own babo This could involve giving the old 9-5 routine the boot and working as a freelancer, or taking the plunge and starting up your own start-up. As they say, if you cant beat em, join em. In the face of a digital revolution, entrepreneurs will play a particularly important role in supporting the economy and creating new jobs. As the CSIRO report Tomorrows Digitally Enabled Workforce points out We are seeing a focus on entrepreneurism to create new jobs, working out how to encourage new tech companies that will be competitive on the world stage, while promoting innovation through technology to transform current businesses so that they will thrive in a globally connected marketplace. This also has far-reaching consequences for the world as we know it. As Stephen Hawking said, Everyone can enjoy a life of luxurious leisure if the machine-produced wealth is shared, or most people can en d up miserably poor if the machine-owners successfully lobby against wealth redistribution. Theres no point in burying your head in the sand and pretending that everythings going to be okay. Automation is already disrupting industries at an exponential rate from the taxi industry to transport and logistics right through to the services industry. The story of a dystopian future where were at the mercy of our robot overlords has been told hundreds of times. But while the extent of automation is yet to be seen, its fair to say that irrespective of what industry you work in, its absolutely vital to constantly be adapting, retraining, and reskilling. The future is now get ready for it.Like this article? Share it with your friends ResourcesMy first resumeCover letter for my first jobCareer Insider StoriesShelley Lask - Body Positive Health & FitnessInterested in becoming a?Human Resources OfficerGeneral ManagerBusiness ManagerAccountantOffice AdministratorPopular Career Searchesin demand jobs in australia 2017future jobs in demand 2020best jobs for college grads with no experiencejob outlook 2016best jobs for 2020 graduates australia CoursesBachelor of Social WorkEnquire Online Enquire OnlineCertificate III in Health AdministrationEnquire Online Enquire OnlineBachelor of Criminal JusticeEnquire Online Enquire OnlineCertificate III in Allied Health AssistanceEnquire Online Enquire Online Vivien LuuViv is a writer who enjoys researching and writing about creativity, how the human mind works, and neuro processes. She values creativity above all else and admires people who pursue their career dreams, no matter the sacrifice. In her spare time, she binges on HBO shows and epic fantasy novels.Related ArticlesBrowse moreEntertainment career fact sheetIs show business your calling? Check out our entertainment fact sheet to find outEmployment trendsJobs Australia 2014 Where are the jobs in New South Wales?With the largest workforce in the country and growth in mining halved, where will the jobs lie for New South Wales? The Jobs Australia 2014 report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics predicts the fastest-growing industries to 2018.Resume tipsSocial mediaTraditional resumes still reign supremeWe may be living in a digital age, but leading HR professionals still rank the traditional resume as the most effective recruitment tool.