Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is not concerned about a new PwC research report indicating more than a third of Americans could lose their jobs to automation by the early 2030s.
Mnuchin is turning a blind eye to the fact that technological advancements in computerized automation and robotics have been increasingly replacing jobs in every sector of our economy. Following World War II, changes in the global economy and advancing technology gradually transitioned American workers from manufacturing to service related work. Now, advances in automation are replacing service sector jobs.
From robotic chefs and waitstaff in restaurants to robotic automobile production to automated banking and very sophisticated robotic surgical procedures, computerization and robotics have taken over many middle-class jobs and will continue to replace others as we gain greater knowledge, and more innovative and improved technologies will be created. Specialized artificial intelligence applications will also make high-ended and highly skilled professional jobs scarce.
In reference to a question about artificial intelligence displacing American workers, Steve Mnuchin, Trump’s secretary of the Treasury, said "I think that is so far in the future — in terms of artificial intelligence taking over American jobs — I think we're, like, so far away from that [50 to 100 years], that it is not even on my radar screen.”
Rubbish.
According to reasonable estimates I’ve seen, within the next 10 years self-driving cars will have eliminated 4.5 million commercial driving jobs.
Within the next 6 years, artificial intelligence will have eliminated at least 4 million retail jobs.
Within the next decade, artificial intelligence will have eliminated 6 million jobs in health care and education.
The list goes on.
The fact that these aren't on the Secretary of the Treasury's radar screen makes me worry about the quality of his radar. He needs better intelligence about artificial intelligence.
By Harriet Taylor
