Will Robots Take Our Jobs?

When I think about robots taking our jobs, I am neither of the opinion that we need to panic amidst the imminent robopocalypse, nor am I confident there will always be work for everyone. Instead I think we will see something similar to previous revolutions (e.g. agricultural and industrial). That is, ultimately everyone will be better off, working fewer hours and doing tasks more suited to people than to machines (thanks to widespread automation), but during the transition there will be discomfort. This discomfort arises when people who have been working particular jobs for most of their lives find themselves out of work, or find their jobs don't even exist anymore. Then education and retraining is the challenge, something that's not easily accomplished and something our educational system is not setup to do.

[BestEverFoodReviewShow]

That’s how you make a sponsored video. Actual thoughtful content that stands on its own.

[daaknait]

Loved the dude just shaking his head like "Young folk these days talking to their gyro cameras and shit..."

[samovarmaker]

3:57 That security guard shaking his head

[tibees]

I recently made a video asking the question 'When robots can do creative jobs, what will humans have left?'

[tkzsfen]

so what's the bad part of me working only 15 hours a week?! it's a dream come true! fuck work...

[KaigaKarasuma]

Did anyone else notice...?

1:50 - The attendant is saying that sooner or later robots will replace us in jobs because they're more efficient. (Exit sign in background).

1:59 - Derek begins talking about how robots are getting faster and better than us while sitting in front of a sign that says "BETTER FASTER FOOD".

3:00 - Derek is talking about number of employees vs company value while passing a Parking Garage which is typically used by people while they are working.

3:29 - Derek explains the drastic increase in unemployed males aged 25-54 since the 1960's then pans across a vacant storefront.

3:40 - "All jobs are at risk of being automated within the next few decades." Shows traffic signal at crosswalk. A job that used to be done by a human, but has long since been automated.

3:50 - "It's easy to see how this could lead to a downward trajectory for society." Passes a "One Way" sign that is pointed behind him.

4:17 - Derek talks about the Luddites destroying machines for taking their jobs while walking past machines that while operated by humans, took many human jobs.

6:07 - "The other factor here is the new jobs that will be created." Public Parking sign in background.

6:25 - Derek talks about the difficulties ahead of him as he pursued his career then passes a sign that reads "Curb Lane Closed Ahead".

7:17 - Derek says that the people who will be able to take advantage of these changing opportunities are those who have the right education. He then passes a sign that features an "Early Bird" deal.

7:30 - Derek says "So, for the future..." Then pans left to show a "Road Work Ahead" sign.

7:55 - Derek is talking about educational futurism and how colleges need to innovate in order to prepare students for the future. He's passing a bank which is a place where you financially prepare for the future.

And there are lots of other subtle coincidences throughout the video that I just don't have the time to sit and type out.

Derek @2veritasium is either a film making genius or this video is absolutely brimming with coincidental symbolism.

[NikoKun]

This wave of automation isn't going to create many "new" jobs at all.. You simply don't need as many people to make/manage these new automation technologies/industries.
It's going to force people to rethink the value of "work" and rethink what a "job" is.. Somehow we're going to have to make it possible for people to live comfortably, while doing things which may not be capable of earning them a paycheck, but are still productive and/or important rolls in society. This may require us to look at Unconditional Basic Income systems, or other methods to deal with the issue, but either way we deal with it, we can't ignore this rapidly approaching reality.

[Bawinni]

robots taking our job shouldnt be a bad thing.

[NebadonAdams]

I work front office for a Primary Care Doctor.

PLEASE TAKE MY JOB, ROBOTS!

[spinakker]

I've just realised how well you must have written and memorised all these talks beforehand, so these wouldn't be seen as all over the place ramblings when you record them on the street!

[alephii]

The real question is: "Will Jobs Take Our Robots?"

[ronpaulrevered]

Hopefully; It will mean infinite wealth for everyone. We don't want jobs, we wants the goods and services jobs produce.

[rhino]

Lifelong learning at universities? At these tuition prices?? Of course the president of a university would think that is a good idea.

[dwood]

So... do you disagree with CGP Grey? He provided counter-arguments to a lot of this, and I know you'll have watched his video.

The "new jobs" like yours are a huge minority. Most of the jobs people do today have existed in some form for a century, and they're all ripe for automation. So this is totally different. No amount of adaptability is going to fix that. There aren't enough new jobs coming.

The desire for creative media isn't strong enough to sustain an entirely creative economy. That isn't going to be a thing. There's already more material out there than I could ever consume.

The only way we're going to avoid disaster is if we accept that the profits of large automating companies must be spread among the populus as a universal basic income (or similar). That would mean everyone could work fewer hours and still sustain themselves. This pattern could continue, with UBI getting larger to maintain living standards until people barely have to work at all.

Of course the logical conclusion of all of this is more of a communist society, because capitalism just doesn't work in those conditions. Which is a little ironic. Capitalism leading to inevitable communism?

[eristonjuan]

You can see the guard's disapproval here 3:57

[Waldohasaskit]

Rarely ever does technology completely replace jobs, rather it allows workers to be way more productive, drastically reducing the cost of what they are making. That lower cost increases demand for the product just as drastically, this not only makes up for jobs last but increases wages. People thought ATMs and online banking were going to replace tellers, but they really made banking and branches much cheaper, increasing demand for banking and now there are even more teller jobs and they're much better paying.

[spol]

Better education and supplemental income(from our extremely efficient economy). But we also need to start accepting that a lot of people won't need to work because they are fine with a small income or because with any amount of education they will never be able to compete with the hordes of better workers/ entrepreneurs. The need for new products feels infinite but that doesn't mean our almost infinite amount of people will fill those holes.

[swmatt]

at some point robots will have all jobs and we will live in a Wall-e space ship type world.

[azdgariarada]

I went back to school last year specifically to get training in a field more "robot proof" than my previous career in the food service industry. Currently working on a psychology BA.

[pIacehoIders]

Last time i was this early robots still haven't taken my job