AI and robotics could actually hold some workers back from their dream careers
- Automation could keep us from climbing the career ladder
- Robotics reduced the average career value in the local market in the 2000s and 2010s
- Low-skilled workers affected by technological changes are more likely to vote for Trump
Increased automation through artificial intelligence and robotics could reduce career opportunities, a new analysis warns.
While concerns that AI could replace human workers have largely been allayed as experts see the technology more as a colleague, it could indeed keep us from getting our dream careers, a new research paper has claimed.
While the impact of artificial intelligence has yet to be quantified, the study examines the deployment of robotics in the late 2000s and 2010s to provide an indication of what we might expect.
Automation could ruin our chances of getting our dream jobs
According to the study, one additional robot per 1,000 employees reduced the average career value in the local market by $3,900 between 2004 and 2008, and by $2,480 between 2008 and 2016. The effects are especially evident in sectors heavily exposed to robotics, such as manufacturing. . After the introduction of more technology, low-skilled workers experience a decrease in upward labor mobility.
Bledi Taska, one of the co-authors of the study, shared LinkedIn: “It’s not just about robots replacing jobs. It’s about robots that reduce people’s opportunities to improve their lives. For many employees, especially those with low levels of education, the ladder to better-paying jobs is disappearing.”
The study also examined the “link between declining career prospects and political behavior” – areas most affected by robotics reportedly saw stronger support for populist candidates like Donald Trump during his first term as president.
This is likely because while workers miss out on opportunities to climb the career ladder, they look to politicians who promise economic reforms.
Taska summed it up: “We can shape a future where technology increases, not diminishes, human potential – if we act now.”
