6/11/2014
By Charles Payne

While the focus of national debate has been on higher wages for jobs that require the least amount of skills, and on taxpayer relief for college degrees that don’t translate into jobs, the pace at which computers and robots may be taking all the jobs, continues to gallop along. Last September, a study collaborated by Dr. Carl Frey and Dr. Michael Osborne analyzed 702 occupations to determine how susceptible humans were to losing their jobs to technology.

THE FUTURE OF EMPLOYMENT: HOW SUSCEPTIBLE ARE JOBS TO COMPUTERIZATION?

Every day, there seems to be another story of companies like Google, investing in robots or drones, performing jobs that currently put money into the pockets of humans. Even the debate about high-frequency trading is really about machines thinking and outguessing humans and this juggernaut cannot be stopped.

 In fact, mankind has feared this sort of progress for centuries. The first Industrial Revolution experienced anxiety and resentment. In 1767, Britain passed a law mandating the destruction of machines punishable by death.

The Next Leap for Robots Coming Through Machine Learning:

• Data Mining
• Machine Vision
• Computational Statistics
• Artificial Intelligence & Algorithms

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

It is one thing to be able to compute quickly, but we have always figured that the human touch would be the buffer between enjoying robots as aides, rather than fearing them as job competitors. As it turns out, robots are becoming less like Rosie of the Jetsons and more like those robots in the Will Smith movie, ‘I Robot.’ Speaking of movies, it is no longer farfetched to see these types of moves on the big screen. Philip K Dick’s novel, “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” (was made into a movie, entitled ‘Blade Runner’).

This week, Softbank introduced the world to “Pepper,” their new robot with a heart. Yes, this robot makes decisions based on love. The robots first words to the assembled press:

“Being able to be considerate is my most important function.”

Softbank will position “Pepper” robots in its high-end stores, where they will specialize in public relations, but eventually their roles will expand, as the CEO sees them becoming “part of the family.”

Its sounds fun, but there is a giant economic impact that has to be acknowledged; one thing sticks out loud and clear: the lowest paying jobs are the jobs that will go to computers and robots, which makes you wonder why we are spending so much time and political capital on what is a specious debate.

The Most and Least Susceptible to Computerization and Robots:

A Deeper Look

NFIB

Fifty-five percent of small business owners hired or tried to hire in the last three months, and 46 percent reported few or no qualified applicants for open positions. This unspoken dilemma gets worse as we make it easier not to develop these skills. Maybe the robots can’t get here fast enough.

JOLTS

Looking back on yesterday’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report, I was really impressed by the 41 percent jump in people that quit construction jobs. With supply being a serious issue, it speaks to the fact that so many skilled workers have moved on to other industries, and those still wielding hammers are probably demanding higher pay. Trade +3percent and Health Services +11percent were also bright spots, with Professional Services -9percent and Manufacturing -14percent was worrisome.

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Charles Payne
Wall Street Strategies

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