Since launching this Substack in 2023, the landscape of robots and automation has shifted. Back then, it felt like we were still in the early scenes of the movie, getting a dusting of foreshadowing for what was to come. Delivery bots were a novelty, we’d heard of ChatGPT but only knew one or two people actually using it, and driverless cars were still in testing mode.
Today things are different. Every business podcast I’ve listened to recently is talking about AI. Stating that if you're not using this tool you will be left behind. If you live in Los Angeles, Waymos are everywhere. And, contactless transactions are now more the norm than the exception.
But behind every contactless transaction and driverless car is a hole where a person used to be — a human who was getting paid to do that job. A job that put a roof over their head and food on the table.
So I guess I’m wondering….what’s going to happen to the humans? How will the humans make money?
When asked about the future for jobs for humans, Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang — whose company builds the advanced chips that power all this AI — said this
“If you’re an electrician, you’re a plumber, a carpenter—we’re going to need hundreds of thousands of them to build all of these factories.”
Learning a trade is super. But gosh that feels like a narrow scope, doesn’t it? It also sounds like humans, correct me if I’m missing something, are going to be in service to robots.
🔈IN SERVICE TO ROBOTS
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