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Robots and the changing workforce

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Abstract

The use of robotic workers is likely to continue to increase as time passes. Hence it is crucial to examine the types of effects this occurrence could have on employment patterns. Invariably, as new job opportunities emerge due to robotic innovations, others will be closed off. Further, the characteristics of the workforce in terms of age, education, and income could profoundly change as a result.

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Notes

  1. For example see the description of Wakamaru at http://www.mhi.co.jp/kobe/wakamaru/english/live/index.html (last visited September 3, 2009).

  2. Of course, the discussion here is too brief to resolve the associated employment issues in part because the computer is directly or indirectly connected to many more types of industries than the typewriter was.

  3. Though Nagenborg and his colleagues rightly lament that much of the relevant work tends to be rather “inhumane” in nature (Nagenborg et al 2008, p. 358).

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Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank the journal’s editors and anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and insights.

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  1. Georgia Tech, School of Public Policy, 685 Cherry Street, Atlanta, GA, 30332-0345, USA

    Jason Borenstein

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  1. Jason Borenstein
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Borenstein, J. Robots and the changing workforce. AI & Soc 26, 87–93 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-009-0227-0

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