#Robotize file drivers

The standard analysis of technical change recognizes that machines may reduce employment in some occupations, but suggests that the fear of permanent displacement of human labor is ill-placed. Is this a legitimate worry, or a groundless fear? Most economists are in the latter camp. Given the advances of artificial intelligence, computerization, and robotics in every nook and cranny of the labor market, be prepared to hear NHTSA-style predictions about other lines of work in the not-so-distant future: your job may no longer be performed by a human. Toyota expects to launch automated vehicles around 2020 as well. Working with Google engineers, Ford has made development of driverless technology a central component of its business plan, and intends to bring self-driving vehicles to the mass market by 2020. General Motors and Lyft have announced a partnership in which GM will build an autonomous fleet of cars for the next-generation taxi business. Major auto companies are investing billions of dollars in driverless-car technology. If you are one of 4.1 million motor-vehicle operators in the United States, including truck drivers, taxi drivers, and bus drivers, or a part-time Uber or Lyft driver, the self-driving vehicles are coming for your work.

#Robotize file drivers

Preparing for a driverless car robo-lution, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) declared this year that because new self-driving vehicles “will not have a ‘driver’ in the traditional sense that vehicles have had drivers during the last more than 100 years,” the government will consider the software, not a human, to be controlling the vehicle. But whether robotization will be good or bad for society isn’t a foregone conclusion-it will depend crucially on how public policy and private firms respond. If computers can beat humans in Jeopardy, chess, and Go, it should be no surprise that they will soon be able to do many of our jobs as well as we can. Reports of machines competing with humans in hamburger flipping, highly paid medical work, and administrative tasks are the tip of the iceberg: robots may substitute for humans in virtually every domain. The “out of work by 2045” prediction comes from a prominent computer scientist. The “half our jobs” figure comes from Oxford social scientists. But they are based on the predictions of researchers across many disciplines and on technological advances developed by firms large and small. These headlines have the flavor of yellow journalism. Robots And Computers Could Take Half Our Jobs Within the Next 20 Years”…“Robots Could Put Humans Out of Work by 2045”…“White House Predicts Robots May Take Over Many Jobs That Pay $20 Per Hour”…“Robot Serves Up 360 Hamburgers Per Hour”…“Why the Highest-Paid Doctors Are the Most Vulnerable to Automation”…“Robot Receptionist in Tokyo Department Store.”