Robots are taking over, you guys
As life becomes more and more like a science fiction movie, you may soon have to compete with robots for your job. Robots have already revolutionized the economy, having long ago taken over many manufacturing and computing tasks. And why not? Robots are quickly becoming smarter than people, are highly accurate and consistent, and can work endless hours without getting tired or bored.
Sure, you’re thinking, a robot can complete a simple assembly line task, but what about all the jobs that require human-to-human interactions and a little creativity? Yet robots may be taking over jobs we never could have imagined. Google has already invented a driverless car, and driverless trains and mine vehicles are already in use. Schools may replace teachers with experimental software. Who needs a personal trainer or physical therapist, when Microsoft’s Kinect can detect and correct your movements while exercising? In Thailand, a robot is even being employed to taste test food. Here are three more jobs you never would have thought a robot could do better than you:
Sales jobs are in danger
Many sales jobs have already been replaced as more and more consumers are doing their shopping online, and more and more stores are offering self-checkout stations so that you can shop without ever interacting with a human being. And now, robots are capable of making complicated sales calls, being programmed to interact with customers and to ask and answer questions. Robot telemarketer Samantha West, who sells health insurance, infamously refuses to admit that she’s a robot, repeatedly insisting “I’m real.” Well, if she can make the sale, who is to argue with her?
Pharmacies already run by robots
In an attempt to improve patient safety, the University of California employs robots in two of its pharmacies. The robots receive the prescription, then retrieve, package, and dispense the doses into bar-coded plastic rings. In the hospital, nurses can then scan a barcode on a patient’s bed to make sure they are receiving the correct doses of their medications. So far the robots have filled 350,000 prescriptions without making a single error, and may much better than their human predecessors at cross-checking for drug interactions.
Oh no, fellow journalists
Sorry to break it to you, fellow journalists, but even you may be replaced by a robot. The Associated Press is now using robots to write stories and earnings reports. Stories with lots of numbers, such as market reports and sports analysis, are the easiest for robots to tackle. The Big Ten network already uses a program called Narrative Science to write recaps of sports games.
With robots quickly taking over even complicated and creative jobs, what will be left for us humans to do?
