Jobs, data and automation

I’ve warned repeatedly that the new wave of automation is threatening many traditional jobs.  Over the past year I’ve published several updates:

• Protesting your way out of a job?
• Even more jobs are now threatened by automation
• The 10 most popular applications for robots
• More about jobs and automation

The pace of developments is accelerating.  Over the past week or two I’ve found the following articles that directly address one or more aspects of the issue:

• IBM launches natural language service Watson Analytics
• IBM reignites artificial intelligence mission Watson
• IBM opens new Watson headquarters in NY, expands with global cognitive computing projects
• Chief analytics officer: The ultimate big data job?
• One in three jobs will be taken by software or robots by 2025
• Berners-Lee: ‘Computers are getting smarter. We’re not’

All of those links are worth following.  There’s far more happening under the surface of ‘business as usual’ than most people realize.  It’s going to mean that many jobs and professions that today we take for granted simply will not exist in a few years time.  There may be new professions and jobs that arise to replace them, but in more and more cases it appears that artificial intelligence, robotics and data analysis will replace many things done by people today.  Those doing them now will find there are no jobs left for them.

As I’ve said before, if you work in one of the fields that may be affected by such developments, you need to start looking into retraining and upgrading your skills right now.  You don’t want to be part of the ‘lemming rush’ when the rest of the workforce wakes up to what’s going on and everyone tries to change jobs and/or career paths simultaneously.  In this case, the early bird is most definitely going to get the worm – and there probably won’t be many worms left for anyone else . . .

Peter