Is your job at risk of being automated? It might happen sooner than you think...
/Yes, your job may be at risk, and so is your career.
No, "immigrants" are not the reason...
Rapid advancements in technology is.
This is not a new phenomenon:
The introduction of robotics into car manufacturing led to thousands of job losses in the 1970s and 1980s
The introduction of computers led to thousands of job losses in the banking and telecommunication sectors in the 1980s
We don't need telephone operators anymore
We hardly ever send paper letters
Retailers are closing all over the world with the global expansion of Amazon
And so on...
Every generation witnesses one or more shocks where human skills get replaced by technology.
In fact, according to a recent study by McKinsey: half of jobs in the US will be automated in the next decade. According to Forrester, 10% of jobs in the US will be automated in the next year alone!
So whose job is at risk in the coming years? And how can you make yourself resilient against these trends?
Jobs that are at risk are those which can be easily automated, such as:
Truck driving: driverless trucks are already being used in the US and Europe
X-Ray reading: artificial intelligence systems can read imaging (X-rays, MRIs) better than any doctor, faster, and more reliably
Bank tellers (it's already happening)
Airport processing personnel
Customer service phone personnel (it's already happening)
People working in warehouses (stocking, inventory keeping, etc)
Food preparation in anything but high-end restaurants (it's happening)
Coffee making (baristas are already getting replaced)
Car drivers (driverless cars will be the norm in advanced countries in the next 5-7 years - they're far safer and more reliable than humans)
Medicine: artificial intelligence will be far better at diagnosing a disease than a human doctor and assigning the right treatment
Think of it this way: if you think there is a 10% chance your job will get automated, it WILL get automated. This is how fast technology (accelerated by artificial intelligence) is advancing.
So which jobs are NOT at risk?
Basically jobs where each situation is "different".
Jobs where "non-repetitive" manual skills are required.
Jobs where "emotion" is required.
Examples:
Nursing
Consulting / advising
Plumbing / electricians
Children-level teaching
Leading/managing people in an organisation
Artists (although AI is beginning to make forays into art!)
Starting a business / entrepreneurship
Entertainment (although AI is beginning to impact that too)
Competitive sports
Coaching
Politics
Builders (e.g. customised motorcycle or car builders)
Tech professionals
Obviously this will impact the most advanced countries first, and gradually start to impact less advanced countries.
But given that this is more than likely to happen in the next 10 years, this is not a challenge that awaits your children only, it's a challenge that awaits YOU, especially if you're in your 20s, 30s, or 40s today.
So:
Diversify your sources of income
Learn new skills which are hard to automate
Develop a wide network of relationships
Most importantly: don't do NOTHING!
