Rise of the robots will help enhance our lives
ONE in 10 Aussie workers have accepted a pay cut to shore up their employment as robots and artificial intelligence threaten to reduce the human workforce.
In an effort to stay relevant, Galaxy’s Australian Futures Survey reveals proactive workers have:
• upgraded their skills (38%);
• improved their performance (35%);
• worked longer hours (26%);
• looked for a new job (26%);
• worked in a casual role (21%);
• or accepted a pay cut (11%).
The future of work is a hot-button topic being tackled by the #WTF campaign, which aims to start a conversation about the big issues and encourage problem solvers to share their ideas.
Readers can join in today on the What’s the Future, Australia? website (wtf.org.au) or via social media.
You can ask an expert for advice if you’re concerned or there’s a chance to win $500 just by sharing your ideas on the issue.
Social analyst David Chalke said whether new technology should be a source of worry or excitement for workers depended on their situation.
“If you are 50-plus, tired, low paid and low skilled, you should be terrified because the jobs for you in the future are not going to be there, they will be automated,” he said.
“If you are bright, young, smart, adaptable and optimistic, there will always be a job for you. If you have got good interpersonal skills, there will always be a job for you.”
Mr Chalke said he was not surprised some people would take a pay cut for job security.
“The majority of Australians are comfortable financially. Our biggest worry at the moment is uncertainty about the future – of the country, of our own careers and jobs and uncertainty about what is it going to be like for our children,” he said.
“Would you take off a bit of that ‘well-off-ness’ for certainty of employment? The answer is yes.”
REA Group chief inventor Nigel Dalton, who will be a panellist in the #WTF Future of Work discussion, said he was an optimist when it came to predictions of automation.
“I know work is going to change but to me it is the Australian mindset that is important. If I look at history as a predictor of future, Australians are incredibly inventive people,” he said.
“We have an amazing legacy of invention and we will continue to solve a lot of problems but (the skills to do so are) not evenly distributed. Does everyone have that mindset? No.”
Mr Dalton said he believed robots would take over some jobs but workers could ensure they stayed relevant through continual learning and philosophical thought.
He recommended having a broad education, combining varied topics such as psychology and engineering.
“(Education) is the key to being relevant in the future and the worst thing that could happen is to find yourself irrelevant,” he said.
“I also advocate learning about philosophy. You’ve got to nurture your health and resilience but you should also nurture your mind and soul.
“What do you stand for and believe in and how should society work? These are philosophical questions that will dictate how we cope with technology change.”
Queensland University of Technology researcher and PhD student Nicole Robinson is researching whether people feel comfortable talking with a robot about health and behavioural goals, and says new technology has the potential to help workers.
“Robots will be the new version of a computer,” she said.
“In healthcare, we do acknowledge not everyone will want to talk to a robot but it’s an option if people want it. It’s not about replacing, it’s about enhancing.
“New technology on the horizon is quite exciting.”