Robots, should we be afraid of being replaced?
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Should we be afraid that robots will replace us? Scientists have developed an algorithm that decides whether a machine can do its job.
A new specialized online resource is aimed at those who want to know whether to continue working in their place or if they need to retrain, so in the realities of the new times they are likely to be out of a job.
Swiss scientists from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne) and the University of Lausanne have jointly developed a methodology to assess automation risks and map the career transitions of laid-off workers.
In particular, the document written by the project team argues that ‘governments can use the methodology to assess the risk of unemployment among their populations and adjust education policies‘, and for IT companies it can be a useful tool to better understand the needs of the population.
The researchers compiled a list of 967 occupations using a public dataset that included the required knowledge, skills, and abilities. The knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) for each job were compared to the AI or robot capabilities defined in the European Union SPARC Robotics Multi-Year Roadmap.
Should we be afraid that robots will replace us?
The authors of the methodology not only wanted to know who could be replaced faster, but also planned to create a job comparison method to offer a more sustainable career for those at risk of losing their jobs due to automation.
A two-part formula was created with two results: Automation Risk Index (ARI) and Sustainability Index (RI). In the first case, the human KSA is compared with the corresponding robot and AI skills to obtain a certain number: from 0.43 (low risk) to 0.78 (high risk) of automation. For example, journalists have an ARI of 0.58, which is just under half the scale.
Programmers have a slightly higher risk of 0.59, while network and system administrators have a lower risk of 0.57. The RI part of the equation generates a number, the lower the better, that indicates ‘a job change with the best trade-off between automation risk and retraining effort’.
The online tool includes three career options for each of the 967 occupations. For example, journalists are encouraged to consider retraining as teachers. The advice is highly controversial, as it will not be easy for the humanities to master the technical sciences in adulthood, and the inclination to a certain lifestyle is hardly possible in a new environment.
