The Robots are Coming! by Andres Oppenheimer

THE ROBOTS ARE COMING! by Andres Oppenheimer deals with “The Future of Jobs in the Age of Automation.” The author begins by referencing an Oxford study on the Future of Employment that was published in 2013 and predicted that 47 percent of jobs could disappear over the next fifteen to twenty years due to automation. The World Economic Forum and Aspen Institute have offered similar perspectives more recently. Next, Oppenheimer offers what he calls a “practical guide” for each of these professions: journalists, service workers (restaurants and retail), bankers, lawyers (with accounting and insurance), doctors, teachers, manufacturing/transportation, and entertainers. The final chapter and epilogue deal with jobs of the future (healthcare assistants, data analysts, digital security, robot maintenance (!)) and adaptations for other professions (teachers, entertainers, etc.). I spent most of my time on the section regarding changes to education where Oppenheimer stresses that teacher roles will evolve to focus even more on being a motivator, promoting curiosity, valuing persistence and grit. Although somewhat superficial in its pronouncements, positives of this work are that he traveled to numerous countries and is removed enough from most professions to be able to synthesize and more objectively label trends than current practitioners may be able to do. Hear more of Oppenheimer’s views on C-SPAN where he offers a lengthy discussion of THE ROBOTS ARE COMING!