Artificially intelligent robots are progressively replacing humans in the workforce. While it is possible that all menial jobs will eventually be done by robots, it is unlikely that jobs that require human contact will be taken over. This essay will discuss why eventually only very few jobs will be carried out by people.
Robots may eventually replace all human labour that does not require specific and complex human skills. Many companies will turn to artificial intelligence because it is far less expensive than hiring, training and employing a human. In supermarkets in Australia, for example, many cashiers have been replaced by automated stations that cost far less than employees. In addition, these automated stations work around the clock and require no holidays or holiday pay. For these reasons, jobs that can be replaced by robotic intelligence will be replaced.
Conversely, there are some human jobs that cannot be replaced because robots will never achieve the capacity to do them. Put simply, some jobs require a ‘human touch’. These jobs include psychology, education, medicine and social work to name but a few. Robots will never be able to achieve what has taken socal evolution hundreds of thousands of years to achieve.
It is increasingly likely that robots will end most human employment. Unskilled labour will eventually be done entirely by robots; however, sophisticated jobs that require human specific skills will always exist. Ultimately, very few jobs will be safe in an increasingly artificially intelligent workforce.