he would pursue mass deportations, rattling industries that rely on immigrant workers, the U.S. had a labor problem. Baby Boomers are retiring and there just aren’t enough people to take their place. This has big implications for the country’s economy, and could potentiallyMany companies are turning to automation—a solution long feared by some workers—in an effort to thrive in this economic environment.
Schneider Electric and other big companies across the U.S. are using AI and automation to deploy their workforces more efficiently, not only figuring out how computers can do the jobs people don’t want to do but also retraining employees to do work that is aided by machines. Amazon, for instance,a warehouse in Shreveport, La., that is powered by 10 times more robotics and advanced AI than its previous facilities are—and that creates 30% more skilled jobs for people.
Indeed, people who have feared that technology would displace them have often been proved wrong. Technology may replace some jobs, but it can also create new, better ones. When ATMs were first introduced, bank tellers feared they’d be obsolete, but instead, the new convenience of banks created demand for“We’re not really ready to yield control to machines,” said Daniela Rus, director of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT, who was also on the panel.
The unemployment rate in the Euro Area was 6.3% in October, while the U.S. unemployment rate is currently at 4.1%. The U.S. currently has more people employed than it did before the pandemic, even in manufacturing, which is one sector embracing automation while also embracing its workers at the same time.