Australians need to ‘wake up’ to the robot threat, with five million jobs at risk: Futurist Shara Evans

MILLIONS of us are destined to be unemployed if we don’t “wake up” to some big switches that are happening.

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It’s raunchy enough getting and keeping a job when challenging against other humans. but what about when you’re contesting with the relentless advance of technology? National Political Editor Malcolm Farr talks us through the relentless advance of technology, and how it is shaping the workplace.

• April 13th 2017
• Five months ago
• /display/newscorpaustralia.com/Web/NewsNetwork/Network News/National/

Think your cosy office job is safe?

MILLIONS of Australians are destined for the unemployment queue if they don’t “wake up” to the robot revolution, warns futurist Shara Evans.

Creeping automation is set to convert how we work, shop and socialise — and the switches are a lot closer than most people realise.

Fresh research by recruitment agency Randstad exposes that eighty four per cent of Australians surveyed are not worried that automation will affect their future job prospects, while seventy seven per cent believe that they won’t need to switch careers in the next ten years.

But the reality was the opposite, said Ms Evans, who suggested Australians “take their goes out of the sand” and wise up to the dramatic transformation that had already begun.

“The reality is that forty per cent of current jobs in Australia won’t exist in ten to fifteen years due to automation — that’s five million jobs gone,” she said, citing the latest report on the topic by CEDA.

“If I look at the exponential advancements in technology, it is very clear that this figure will proceed to rise.”

The indeed scary part? It’s not future innovation that puts our jobs at risk, but existing technology that is available for use right now.

SALARIES WIPED OUT

Robotic checkout systems are being flipped out at convenience stores in Japan, and insurance stiff Fukoku Life substituted thirty four of its claims assessors with robots earlier this year.

The company laid off the workers after spending $Two.36 million on a computer program that calculates payouts to policyholders, a budge it said would boost productivity by thirty per cent.

Fukoku Life expected to save about $1.65 million a year on salaries with the fresh system, meaning it would pay itself off in less than two years.

Amazon now has 45,000 robots moving products around its cavernous warehouses, an treatment that has been adopted by companies like DHL Logistics as they scramble to keep up with the e-commerce giant.

And Volvo has predicted that driverless cars will become commercially available in the next five years, a prospect that would make taxi and Uber drivers redundant.

The rise of automation is so significant that Microsoft founder Bill Gates has called for governments to impose a “robot tax” to slow down the rhythm of automation — a suggestion Ms Evans said was “a nice idea”, but not viable to implement.

“We are already observing robots performing concierge tasks within the retail space, and the future workplace will see humanoid type robots with greater physical capabilities,” she said.

The appeal of robots was not just their capability to do things swifter than humans; in industries like agriculture or mining, Ms Evans said, they could be used to gather valuable data on ground conditions, with sensors to detect mineral deposits or analyse the bugs on crops.

And more and more businesses would begin to use robots and artificial intelligence systems as they became cheaper, while skill shortages threatened to speed up the spread of the technology.

MAKE YOURSELF IRREPLACEABLE

So how can you keep your job safe from the robots?

According to Ms Evans, the key was to be aware of which aspects of your role could be automated, and look for ways to develop abilities that will make you irreplaceable.

“There are certain job categories that are more prone to automation very first,” she said.

“If a job is a lot of predictable, repetitive behaviour and a fairly low cost to implement automation to replicate that labour, those are the kinds of jobs that are likely to be affected very first.”

Next on the list were jobs involving data processing and data collection, both of which could be lightly substituted by artificial intelligence — like the Japanese insurance company mentioned above.

Even those people fortunate enough to stay employed would likely find their job descriptions switching, Ms Evans said.

Shara Evans with the Ehang one hundred eighty four autonomous individual flying vehicle at the Consumer Electronics Showcase.

“If you’ve got someone who used to just analyse data and is not indeed doing a entire lot of social interaction, and that task has been subsumed by an AI bot, their job role might take on more of a customer-centric concentrate,” she said.

“But that particular individual may not be suited to budge into the more customer-centred concentrate because of their natural personality.”

Emotional intelligence, strategic planning, social and creative abilities would remain in request, she said.

WINNERS AND LOSERS

The influence of the switches would depend on how well they had ready. Ms Evans said.

“For somebody that has their head in the sand and they find their job has been substituted by automation, and they haven’t bothered to look at what else they’re good at reskilling, those switches would be pretty devastating,” she said.

But on the roll side, youthfull Australian who kept their finger on the pulse would be the very first to benefit from the “amazing possibilities of future job roles that aren't even invented yet”, Ms Evans said, citing fields such as genetic research, bionics and 3D printing as likely growth areas.

“They might look at 3D printing and realise how many different materials are being used and become a materials pro, or learn how to program and design robots — or become an accomplished on integrating them into the workforce,” she said.

“There’s just so many fresh job possibilities that the technology will open up. Yes, jobs will vanish, but fresh ones will be created; you’ve just got to make sure that you’ve got the skill sets to step into those roles.”

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO

• Do a abilities inventory to understand what you are good at and what you want to do.

• If your job does switch, what other kinds of jobs would you love doing? Where do they sit in the spectrum of automation?

• Ask yourself how your skill set fits in with the jobs market and, if you need extra abilities, take proactive measures to build up them.

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