Half the work people do can be automated

[Jimbo101]

https://www.techinasia.com/work-people-automated-mckinsey-study-shows

Here’s a scary thought or a reason to rejoice, depending on which side of the equation you belong. Half the work people do in their jobs can be automated, shows a McKinsey Global Institute study released today.

Instead of assessing the impact of automation on specific jobs, the study went to a more granular level by looking at the activities involved in various jobs. The logic is that every occupation has a range of activities, each with varying potential for automation.

McKinsey found that 49 percent of the activities people are paid to do in the global economy can be automated with “currently demonstrated technology.” That involves US$11.9 trillion in wages and touches 1.1 billion people

[safeinOhio]

1. Just wait until they program

a machine to replace all management jobs. My guess is that will take less time and effort than cars and trucks that do not need a human.

[mythology]

2. No matter which side you fall on, it's scary

I believe we will transition to a new economy over time, new jobs will become available. But getting there won't be easy, and the transition is already having an impact.

Trump campaigned on a promise of bringing back jobs, specifically manufacturing jobs. While Clinton won poor voters, Trump won among those places where jobs are most vulnerable to automation and outsourcing. Trump won where more men have stopped working, where incomes declined the most in the aftermath of the Bush recession. That anxiety helps bring out the racism and sexist in people. Look at much of Europe where slow economic growth has led to extreme racist right wing parties.

It's scary what can happen when people fear losing their economic place. It can bring out the worst in people.

[ConnorMarc]

5. Very good assessment

+1

[RedWedge]

3. If we didn't tie health care, minimum wage or moral worth to a job, this wouldn't be an issue.

Letting go of those three ties would be easier than trying to get people trained and competing for the jobs that will be left, really.

[taught_me_patience]

4. Machines will never be able to taste

Cooks, bartenders, and baristas will be safe from automation.

[linuxman]

8. Those will probably be some of the first to go.

Sure, there may be some trained chef working at corporate or wherever that does indeed taste and concoct recipes, but those formulas can all be uploaded to a computer and created with the touch of a button. Restaurants with human cooks and staff will become niche, so while some may still exist, I can't see them beeing more than a novelty, and it certainly won't save the jobs of those in the industry today. Becky Barista is as good as gone in a few short years, and bartenders likely before that. Drinkmaking is especially formulaic, and can easily be done with automation.

As an aside, machines certainly can "taste". Hell, I've used a handheld computer that could tell me what sample I placed into the testing chamber out of a possible 20,000+ stored substances. Not much of a stretch to figure out which chemical profiles are "Tasty", then tell a machine to modify whatever it's making in order to more closely fit that profile.

One step closer to univeral basic income. Bring it on.

[uponit7771]

6. +1, Yes it can be automated at a cost and the automation takes a while to work smoothly into

... a whole operation.

BUT

There is more crap to do in regards to inovations that can make things cheaper and work better etc...

Companies more interested in profit vs putting people to work which is their mandate.

[Warren DeMontague]

7. Futurists have been predicting this for decades.

Seems to me there's two ways we can go. Either a Universal Basic Income/Leisure economy where the benefits of massive technological advances are at least somewhat shared among the entire populace, or a dystopian future of walled enclaves of mega-rich people served by robots while everyone else starves.

I admit I have more trouble envisioning the first one than the second.