How Automation Will Change Work In 2018

When automation first became prominent that is, when everyone started to take notice somewhere within the last couple of years a lot of doomsayers claimed AI was going to take over the workforce. Many still believe that advanced automation and AI systems are going to replace human laborers completely.

Two professors from Oxford named Carl Frey and Michael Osborne took time to analyze over 700 occupations, after which they declared that 69 million US jobs, 47% of the workforce, would be lost to automation. Several news outlets, including CNBC, also reported that many Americans were worried their careers and jobs would suffer because of automation.

The reality is, most of this is not likely to happen. AI and automation will take some opportunities, but they will create new ones as well.

About 9% of US jobs will disappear due to automation in 2018, but an additional 2% will be introduced because of the “automation economy” or systems involved. The amount of jobs affected is much lower than many claimed, not to mention the systems and hardware are doing the opposite creating work.

But surely there’s some amount of change coming, right? You can’t just overhaul the entire market with automation, AI, machine learning and similar tools and expect nothing to shift. So what is going to happen? What should we prepare to see happen over the year ahead?

Humans and Robots Will Collaborate More Often

A cobot, in case you don’t already know, is a robot or automation tool that operates alongside human workers. The idea is to both make the human labourer more efficient and eliminate some of the tedium associated with their work. It’s not just physical robots that can help with this. Software-based systems work too.

Imagine an IT department that receives assistance from an automated security or authorization tool. What this means for professionals everywhere is that they will have to grow used to working alongside these systems and hardware, which may even involve learning new processes.

Amazon, for instance, has outfitted their warehouses with robot workers, meant to augment and support human labourers. The company is even toying with the idea of transporting and delivering local goods with automated drones.

Expect to see this happen across many industries. For instance, the professional service industry in the U.S. is already one of the top revenue drivers in the world, but imagine how it would be transformed for the better if outfitted with automation tools like the ones discussed here.

Your Opportunities Will Be More Valuable

If a robotic system or automation tool is used to take over repetitive, tedious, and rote work then that leaves you – the human workers – free to focus on other things.

This essentially puts more value on the work and responsibilities you do have. This could come with several potential benefits, the most obvious of which is that you are more fulfilled and more satisfied with your work, assuming those automation tools are efficient and reliable. To prepare, you should be learning and improving as many skills in your current position or career as possible. Not that you should ever stop growing anyway, but upskilling your talents will be necessary going forward.

They Will Improve Working Conditions

If automation systems take over dangerous jobs, they make workplaces safer for human labourers. If they work collaboratively with a human workforce, they can improve efficiency.

If they’re deployed during off-hours while workers are away, they help a business be more productive. All of these scenarios work to not only improve the experience for customers but also for the workers powering a process.

A great example of this is how chatbots and AI assistants are being used in customer service to man support channels. These always-on, always-accessible tools allow customers to reach out from any platform or device, any time of the day and receive help.

In turn, this cuts down on the number of cases and interactions a human worker must handle. It may also improve the customer’s experience, by speeding up waiting times and boosting the support team’s reliability.

Don’t Let the Doomsday Speak Scare You

It’s important to remember that while some jobs and opportunities will be lost, there’s still plenty of room for growth. As is true of many careers in the world of technology, there are a lot of lateral shift options if you’re afraid you’ll lose your place. Now is as perfect a time as any to get involved with big data, data science, analytics, marketing and even maintenance of hardware.

The more knowledge and skills you have at your disposal, the more likely you are to be a valuable asset to any brand, business or organization. Don’t feed into the hype that automation and AI are going to take all of the jobs. It’s simply not true. By all means, prepare and brush up on your knowledge and skills, but don’t panic.