Will a machine take your job? Maybe
New research from a University of Houston professor has found that intelligent Americans with a creative bend are less at risk of losing their jobs to machines. Rodica Damian, who teaches social and personality psychology at the University of Houston, led the study, which is based on data from nearly 350,000 subjects over 50 years from the American Institutes of Research.
Researchers recorded subjects’ occupations 11 years and 50 years after an initial test, which took place in the 1960s. Higher IQ levels, maturity and interest in the arts and sciences predicted that a subject’s job would be less likely to be computerized, according to the study’s abstract.
The results held regardless of the subjects’ social background, according to a UH release.
In the paper’s abstract, Damian and her colleagues said that the findings are especially significant as economists believe nearly half of U.S. jobs will one day be computerized.
The researchers ask if our current schools can “prepare individuals for the changing labor market” and suggests that the research could be used to ensure that future generations are ready to take on jobs that won’t likely be computerized.
“Humans are very creative, and we’ve always managed to create new jobs,” she said in a video published by UH. “The question is, now, are we able to create new jobs as fast as computers take them over? We will only be able to do this if we are preparing with the skills necessary. Due to machine learning now, computers are able to displace jobs faster, and more complex jobs.”
Damian’s research was published this month in the European Journal of Personality.