A long haul of change
New jobs arise from robotics
TECH strategist Kathy Reid imagines a contrarian world where robots rely on humans for their survival.
She sees a bright future for truck drivers, for example, in a landscape saturated with selfdriving vehicles.
Many classes of jobs will disappear at the altar of artificial intelligence and all things robotic, but Reid, a technology consultant who sits on the Linux Australia Council and brought GovHack to Geelong, has a champion in her corner — Bob, the long haul truckie.
Bob is an archetype, is in his forties, has a TAFE qualification in mechanical engineering and has been working long, unforgiving hours transporting dangerous goods cross country for 20 years.
In Reid’s 2025 doomsday scenario, a major truck manufacturer launches a range of self-driving trucks, even road trains, and the demand for long haul truckies drops.
Bob finds himself without work, but his insight has become precious in a new manmachine nexus.
“Bob knows his way around most of the major highways, knows the roads, the tricky spots, where the camber’s not quite right,” Reid says.
“He knows where to look for roos during dusk, and knows where the strong crosswinds are. These are all things the smart trucks don’t know.
“So there’s a gap in the market. After gaining new entrepreneurial and graphical information systems skills, Bob repositions himself as a road terrain consultant, helping train autonomous trucks and their algorithms for Australia’s tough terrain.
“Bob also sidelines as a remote vehicle operator, helping large vehicles navigate difficult terrain and weather.”
Pivoting Bob is a figment of Reid’s imagination, but the notion of constant reinvention has also struck much closer to home.
Her father had a serious heart condition that meant he could no longer drive an asphalting truck.
“He had to retrain as an ac- counts officer, an occupation as far removed as you could possibly get from being an asphalting truck driver,” Reid says.
“But retrain he did, and he successfully transitioned into a completely alternative career, driven by an unforeseen life event.
“The difference here of course is that automation and labour market shifts are to some extent foreseeable — we can predict and act on the macro trends that are happening, and position ourselves not just to survive, but to thrive in the disruption that’s about to occur.”
Reid is a keynote speaker at Geelong’s Pivot Summit in December, and will talk more about jobs of the future and the impact of automation.
“There will be different actors in the labour market. Robots and artificial intelligences will start to undertake many tasks currently performed by humans, such as customer service and data analysis,” she says.