Robots are coming!! (What to do?!)

So this article talks about how to handle jobs lost by automation.

 

Here are the proposed solutions from the article.

*More education. I agree that more education and training will give more opportunities for the workers. However, let us remember that raising the education bar may not do much if the education does not really provide much skills. Something we are already seeing from high unemployment of college graduates. Also, let us remember that free online courses are not a panacea. It is hard to study on your own. Often many lack the discipline and the ability to learn on their own so we must be careful to think that free online courses will resolve a lot of issues.

*Subsidize private jobs. This seems like a good idea. However, let us remember why we have firms. Well, because small businesses are often inefficient and eventually are driven out by competition. So yes, we should encourage business formation but let us remember that entrepreneurship cannot be the ultimate solution.

*Universal basic income. It sounds like a valid idea but we need to test it. Finland is experimenting with basic income, let’s see how it works out.

*Taxing robots. This sounds crazy but it makes sense because there are externalities caused by robots such as destruction of communities when factories shut down. The tricky issue is how to set a fair tax rate. As long as the tax rate does not discourage a automatization then it should be fine. But finding that magic rate could be challenging.

So what to do as individuals? Well, we know that we can’t escape robots doing things better than us at a lower cost. So…we should do things that robots cannot do..

I am sure there will be emphatic robots that mimic human emotions but I still feel humans will always be better at being a good person. So coaching, counseling, any career that requires human touch is likely to survive.

Also, creative jobs will do well. Of course, you can have robots do what looks like creativity by iterating through algorithms but it won’t be the same. So artists will be around.

Businesses will never be fully automated due to strategy and vision. So top managers will also be around. I can’t imagine a firm just following robots directions~

Finally, remember to keep learning new skills. No field will be perfectly safe. Also, save more because we will need cushion in case we get outsourced. So remember to learn every day and save more as well.