In the next ten years, one out of three American workers (and 800 million globally) are at risk of losing their jobs to new technologies, according to research from McKinsey (Manyika et al., 2019). Automation, the use of largely automatic equipment in a system of manufacturing or other production processes, and Artificial Intelligence, the development of computer systems able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, are going to replace millions in the workplace. Many people are freaking out about this; while at the same time, many people are looking forward to it. Should we be worried about automation or should we be happy? That depends. When discussing automation it is crucial to understand that (i) we don’t want jobs, (ii) it will bring about massive economic disparity, and (iii) we must approach this future in an intelligent manner.
