“Are Robots Coming For Your Job? ‘Eventually, Yes’.’
Headline of N.Y. Times Article – September 21, 2018
So your kid wants to go to Stanford Medical School to be a radiologist or other medical specialist. Your kid spent 16 years excelling in school, then 10 years in med school, residency, specialization, and board certification. Your kid is kinda of a geek not having spent much time doing much else aside from studying. But, it was worth it. With his medical specialization, he can make a half a million dollars a year. Great career planning! Great risk based, decision making! Only one problem …
Machine learning and artificial intelligence are getting to the point where smart machines can read and interpret a scan from a MRI machine as well as or even better than a physician or radiologist.[i] So, now what?
The fear of work, job, and career displacement is real. New robots and bots can see better than humans. Robots can drive automobiles. Robots can conduct document reviews for litigation. Robots can automatically write articles. Robots can operate on humans. And, robots can do these as well as or even better than a VUCAN. And, what will happen in five years?
So, what do we recommend your son or daughter do for a VUCAN career or work? The Future of Work being robotic and AI driven seems dystopian and dark in terms of careers. Why? Machines are encroaching on our lives. You probably want but don’t have a personal road map with guidelines and mileposts in terms of how to deal with personal work disruption.
Work Lesson Earned: The challenge is AI and robotics is breaching our VUCAN boundaries of comfort and knowledge. VUCANs don’t know where work starts or will end with smart machines. VUCANs don’t know the rules of how to collaborate with these machines. VUCANs don’t know how to deal with the ethics and assumptions of RBPS and RBDM with robots and smart machines. The good: opportunities look great for those who can solve these problems.
[i] ‘Will Robots Take Our Children’s Jobs?’, New York Times, December 11, 2017.