The Pew Research Center surveyed 10 countries and found people are worried about automation taking over their jobs. The United States was the least concerned with 65 percent certain of the takeover.
It's not if, but when our jobs will become automated by machines, computers or artificial intelligence.
For the past 50 years, automation has been effecting the job market and technology is creeping into every industry.
Rice University automated reasoning expert Dr. Moshe Vardi said since employment peaked around 1980, America has lost seven to eight million manufacturing jobs due to automation. This is why middle America has taken such a huge hit.
He said middle-class jobs—those making $20 to $30 an hour, like in manufacturing—are what's being automated, not minimum wage workers, or jobs that need college-educated workers.
“I would not expect that in the next five to 10 years, we would will see massive automations of lawyers or doctors,” said Vardi.
In the next 10 years, machines won't take over medicine, but will assist doctors.
“Manufacturing was kind of the sweet spot. Why? Because the jobs are predictable, you can automate them and they paid well, which means that businesses have economic motivation to automate them,” said Vardi.
He said retail will be the next automated industry. Brick and mortar stores already shutting down because of e-commerce. Amazon is exploring with clerk-less shops, trickling down to warehouses and delivery.
Vardi added that the U.S. is a powerhouse for its volume of manufacturing, only to be outdone by China, not Mexico.
He said history repeats itself and we have to be ready to adapt to the future disruptions.