The blogosphere is full of overwrought stories about impending mass unemployment due to automation. You could leaf through several centuries of history and find similar stories, but that automation-driven mass unemployment never seemed to happen. There have been instances of mass unemployment, but automation has not been the culprit, almost invariably it’s government. From Aaron Bailey at mises.org:
Automation has become a huge concern in recent years. With computer algorithms getting more and more sophisticated, machines are becoming increasingly able to do jobs that are many people’s bread and butter.
Driverless cars have been tested on our roads for years. Although they aren’t commercially available yet, they eventually will be. Once that happens, they’ll replace cab drivers, as well as people currently contracted by rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft. After all, if employers can remove the expense of paying drivers, they can provide their services for much cheaper while still retaining a greater net profit. Automated vehicles will also replace commercial freight drivers.
That’s not the only place automation might shift the job market. We’ve already seen integration of self-checkout registers in large grocery chains. Even fast food restaurants are getting behind the trend. McDonald’s currently has kiosks at various locations that allow customers to order and receive their food without any human interaction. Carl’s Jr. and Hardees intend to test out kiosks at some of their locations as well.
Back in 2012 a robotics startup company Momentum Machines developed a prototype of a fully autonomous machine that takes orders, cooks the burger, slices the toppings, assembles the burger, wraps it all up, and gives it to the customer. This machine was shown to be able to prepare 400 burgers in an hour, and the company has already purchased a building in the San Francisco Bay Area and intends to open a fully autonomous restaurant very soon. The restaurant will still require a few humans to ensure the machines run smoothly and to empty out the cash and perform other small tasks.
To continue reading: Will Automation Make us Poor?
