Robots are able to do (almost) every job

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An industrial robot begins writing a Torah in the Jewish Museum in Berlin, Germany. AFP/Getty Images

The debate over the idea that robots will assume control of the human workforce has gained much presence over the last decade. Today the robot revolution is omnipresent. While there is not one clear and correct answer, the consensus is that many jobs that are carried out by humans will indeed disappear in favor of robots who will be able to undertake a wide variety of tasks.

A new 15 minute Youtube video, ‘Humans need not apply,’ uploaded by CGP Grey, a user who produces short explanatory videos, sheds some light – through a clearly presented case – on the situation. (You can also watch it below.) The premise is that we’ve spent the last several thousand years building tools to reduce physical labors of all kinds and that it’s all part of an economic revolution. “Just as mechanical muscles made human labor less in-demand, so are mechanical minds making human brain labor less in-demand,” the narrator says. The reality is that workplace automation has eliminated or reduced many jobs.

Robots are getting cheaper and faster. “Professionals, white-collar workers and low-skill workers all have things to worry about from automation,” Grey says and notes that those in the artistic creativity sector will also be affected. (To illustrate it he confirms that the music in the background around the minute 12.10 was composed by a robot.)

The video concludes that workers lose, economics wins. Grey states that automation is inevitable – “it’s a tool to produce abundance with little effort,” he says – and invites the viewer and all us workers to consider a couple questions: What to do when large sections of the population are unemployable through no fault of their own? What to in a future where humans need not apply (to most jobs)?