In the past, automation was the story of factories: robots putting together cars, conveyor belts, and repeating tasks. Now, automation stretches across every industry and every job. From algorithms that screen resumes to wi-fi connected AI that writes marketing, automation changes what work is done, who does it, where it is done, and what skills matter. It creates opportunities, but it also generates questions around job loss, inequality, and how the world prepares for changing jobs.
A brief history and where we are now
The shift in technology is not new. There was The Industrial Revolution, and in the 20th century every society had Electrification and new Mass Production. Instead of changing just one part of the economy, the current digitization wave changes every part of the economy. The current combination of Robotics, software automation, and AI changes the game every 20 years. These systems now execute tasks, learn, and adapt to do complex work previously relegated to humans.
Automation is not just for basic, mindless tasks anymore; it is now entering the fields of finance, law, medicine, the arts, and even customer support. Jobs that once seemed safe and secure, and those that require a greater degree of mental effort, are now becoming targets for automation.
How automation changes jobs – not all in the same way
We can categorize the effects of automation on jobs into three different groups:
1. Task augmentation: For many jobs, automation performs narrow, repetitive tasks and allows people to focus on more complex tasks that require creativity and relationships. For example, while a computer can do the basic diagnostics and data entry automation, the clinician is expected to decide and treat a patient.
2. Task replacement: Machines can now do legal document review, simple customer queries, and basic bookkeeping. These tasks being done entirely by machines poses a threat to the people whose jobs primarily consist of that work.
3. Task creation and transformation: Automation brings new work as well. Data science, AI ethics, and systems integration are just a few new fields that didn’t exist a few decades ago. Even well-established jobs have new tasks – teachers use adaptive learning platforms, and marketers use AI for personalized strategies.
The overall outcome does not tend to be negative or positive. Entire professions may decline, but the different specialized activities associated with those professions may grow. Those who are able to use automation will be the ones who thrive.
Important Skills Automation Can’t Replace
Because routine activities can be automated, the human activities that are more valuable and that machines cannot replace are:
- Problem-solving and critical thinking. Machines can find patterns, but people have to understand the patterns within the broader context and make value judgments.
- Creativity and innovation. Creating ideas, telling stories, and framing problems in new ways are activities that only people can do.
- Emotional intelligence and social skills. A person who is empathic and able to rationally respond to social situations is needed in activities that involve persuasion, mediation, negotiation, or direction.
- Digital literacy and flexibility. Knowing how automated systems function and how to manage, adjust, and work with them will be key.
- Learning. As job activities change, the ability to reskill and retrain across different areas will be a necessary job survival skill.
Transferable skills combined with specialized skills, will be a focus, coming from the educational systems, employers, and individuals.
The Future of New Opportunities
Most of the time, automation changes demand for labor, but does not get rid of it completely. The following areas will likely experience growth:
- Technology development and maintenance. This will be in relation to automated systems. Engineers, data scientists, and technicians will build and supervise these systems.
- Human-centered roles. Professions in healthcare, social work, the arts, and teaching will expand, as these jobs will always require more human contact and human-centered decision making.
- Roles in governance, compliance, and ethics. Because of automated systems, the need for legal, compliance, and ethical automation oversight will be amplified.
- Entrepreneurship and new services. With automation, the marginal cost of many services declines, thereby creating new business models, and niche offerings.
Some sectors will experience growth in the gig and freelance economies, as platforms allow for the flexible outsourcing of specialized tasks. This increase, however, can lead to absenteeism and no protection.
The action of policy, corporations, and social safety nets
With the increase of automation, there comes the need for proactive policy, as nations will need to answer the following automation questions:
- Reskilling and lifelong learning. The new implementation of portable credentials, continuous training, and upskilling pathways will need to come from both the government and corporations.
- Social safety nets and transition support. Unemployment insurance, job-search assistance, and, income support will need to be restructured to meet the new challenges of technological disruption.
- Equitable distribution of automation’s advantages. Without appropriate policy measures in place, productivity advances may be captured by those owning capital and highly skilled workers, thereby aggravating inequality.
- AI regulation and governance. Automation will continue to improve social welfare only if appropriate measures of social value, transparency, accountability, and equity balance are upheld to automate social welfare improvement.
It is the businesses’ responsibility to incorporate automation in ways that support social value by reskilling and upskilling workers, redesigning jobs to enhance human workers, and involving affected communities.
The Geography of Automation
Regions experience automation in uneven ways. The automation of manufacturing processes may lead to the hollowing out of certain industrial towns, while the development of industrial high-tech clusters around universities and innovation hubs takes place. In the absence of appropriate infrastructures (broadband internet, training, and local institutions), remote work opportunities provided by automation and digitized communication tools will continue to bypass certain regions.
Suggested Actions
For workers:
- Stay on top of industry changes and technology by engaging in lifelong education (taking courses, earning micro-credentials, and learning automation tools relevant in your field).
- Develop a portfolio career by blending your industry expertise and other relevant transferable skills — communication and project management, for example.
- Look for jobs that require human reasoning, creativity, or leadership as a top priority.
For Employers:
- Assess job functions to see what can be automated and what will best be left to people and what can be improved for people.
- Plan for employee reskilling to be part of any automation strategy.
- Design human-machine workflows that not only streamline productivity but also sustain meaningful human work.
Conclusion: A Future shaped by Choices
Automation will not be a determining factor — it will be a highly influential factor which depends on the choices of businesses, policymakers, educators, and employees. The best case scenario will be that automation will expand what people can do, increase productivity, and increase and improve employment opportunities. The worst-case scenario will be about the economic and social impacts of widespread inequality.
Because of the practical policies that will be been done by businesses, people will be expected to achieve, flexibility, collaboration, and the will to learn for many years to come. The work that will be done will be a mix of automated and manual work. People that learn cooperate, rather than try to compete, will improve the work and society of many generations.
