Why have farmers, laborers, and other agricultural workers experienced the highest job growth rate, while cashiers and ticket clerks are at the top of the job declining list? Uncertainty about jobs in the age of AI and Robots has been a big concern. Often, we hear observations like AI is killing jobs, raising the question of whether robots will take my job. AI is about automating cognitive or knowledge-intensive jobs. On the other hand, robots are physical machines that perform jobs requiring physical involvement from humans. Notable examples of AI applications are ChatGPT, Gemini or Agentic AI. And Humanoid robots, like Tesla’s Optimus, have been raising concerns about taking over even low-skilled, manual jobs. Additionally, hype surrounding robots has also been contributing to inflated valuations of technology firms, causing confusion.
To shed light on jobs in the age of AI and robots, and answer questions like whether AI or robots will take my job, we need to examine the types of jobs we have been referring to and the kind of eligibility humans require to perform those roles. As not all jobs require the same level of human eligibility and degree of complexity in innovating machines to mimic human competencies is not the same, we need to have a deeper understanding by dissecting jobs and the human competencies required to perform them. Besides, we should also take a lesson from dead robots.
Genesis of the Issue about Jobs in the Age of AI and Robots
The question could be why we are pursuing AI and robotics, which poses a threat to job loss, could be intriguing. In Getting jobs done more efficiently by consuming fewer resources has been the underlying force behind inventing and evolving machines. Millions of years ago, machines were passive, having been developed through the natural process of sharpening hard materials like wood or stone. They have evolved into intelligent machines, imitating humans’ various capabilities, such as sensing, memorizing, applying force, picking, or rotating. As machines become better at comparative analysis, we delegate roles from humans to machines to complete tasks more efficiently, using fewer resources. Hence, we have been on a relentless journey in advancing machines. As a result, the role transfer from human to machine has been continuously progressing, raising the issue of jobs in the age of AI and robots.
Types of Jobs, and Human Eligibilities
There have been many categorizations of jobs and human eligibilities to perform them. However, in this article, in reference to technology (inventing & innovating, replication, and usage), we will divide jobs or work into three broad categories: (1) using products in getting jobs done, (2) making or replicating products, and (3) inventing, innovating, and evolving products. In performing meaningful roles in performing those jobs, human beings apply three eligibilities: (i) innate abilities, (ii) Tacit capability, and (iii) Codified Knowledge and skills.
By birth, human beings have vital innate abilities. They are broadly segmented into four categories: i. Cognitive (21 elements), ii. Physical (9 elements), iii. Psychomotor (10 elements), and iv. Sensory (12 elements). Each category has multiple sub-elements. In total, humans possess 52 innate abilities. These abilities are vital in all phases of the product life cycle, including invention, replication, and usage.
Human beings earn tacit capability through experience. On the other hand, through education and training, we acquire codified knowledge and skills, primarily documented in books and various types of literature.
In performing any job, whether getting a shower, innovating a product, or replicating products, we apply all those abilities. However, their relative importance varies from job to job.
Complexity of Automation of Human Eligibilities
Although many of us think that jobs being performed by low-skilled people are easy to automate, the reality is different. Most of those low-skilled jobs require high-level innate abilities. For example, farmers require dexterity to handle farming tools and visual perception capability to assess crop health, as opposed to the arithmetic capability needed by cashiers and clerks. It has been found that machine designers face the most significant challenge in automating innate abilities. Let’s look into the fate of the ASIMO robot. Hence, there has been very slow progress in automating the role of farmers and many other low-skilled workers.
On the other hand, due to software, it has become very easy to automate arithmetic and other codified knowledge and skills. For this reason, the World Economic Forum finds that farmers, laborers, and other agricultural workers are at the top of the list of those gaining employment, while clerks and cashiers are at the top of the list of those losing jobs. By the way, the complexity of automating experienced, earned tacit capability is moderate.
Will AI and Robots take My Jobs?
The answer to this vital question depends on the jobs and the relative importance of innate, tacit, and codified human capabilities. If the job needs very high-level innate abilities, AI and Robots will find it very hard to take over. For example, according to the O*net database, a Dentist’s occupation requires 27 innate abilities such as Finger Dexterity, Selective Attention, and Arm-Hand Steadiness in using different tools to perform their jobs. The progress in robot hand development over the last 300 years suggests that it’s pretty challenging to replace those roles with machines. Besides, innate abilities could be sharpened to increase the complexity further. On the other hand, a computer programming job highly depends on codified capability. Hence, it’s likely that programmers’ jobs are far more vulnerable than Dentists’ in the age of AI and robots.
In general, the role of humans in using products has been in decline. Similarly, replication jobs have been demanding a decreasing role of humans due to the advancement of products and processes to produce them. As a result, countries focusing on replication-based industrial economies have been experiencing a decline in the human role in industrial production. However, there has been an exponentially growing role of humans in R&D in driving the evolution of machines. Therefore, firms and nations engaged in R&D for driving the evolution of machines have been experiencing high-level job growth.
There has been a constant transformation of the human role in work due to technological progress. However, the degree of complexity in automating human roles across different jobs varies. Additionally, there has been exponential growth in R&D jobs for improving machines, as the complexity of advancing machines has increased due to their maturity. Therefore, there is a need for thorough analysis to assess the vulnerability of jobs in the age of AI and Robots.
