# What populous jobs are the machines stealing next, and what jobs will those people do? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 30, 2016, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-populous-jobs-are-the-machines-stealing-next-and-what-jobs-will-those-people-do/764447 "2016-08-30T00:28:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2016, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-populous-jobs-are-the-machines-stealing-next-and-what-jobs-will-those-people-do/764447/41 "2016-08-31T13:43:13Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > In many industries that happened years and years ago. You’re not talking about the future, you’re talking about the past. Of course. And it’s only progressed to fewer and fewer high priests tending each temple of bounty. Even automated maintenance isn’t unusual any more. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2016, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-populous-jobs-are-the-machines-stealing-next-and-what-jobs-will-those-people-do/764447/42 "2016-08-31T13:55:07Z")
Self driving cars are in their infancy. I think trucking and driving jobs are safe for the time being. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2016, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-populous-jobs-are-the-machines-stealing-next-and-what-jobs-will-those-people-do/764447/43 "2016-08-31T14:03:12Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Self driving cars are in their infancy. I think trucking and driving jobs are safe for the time being. Endless hype and media love aside, I don’t think we will see self-driving vehicles as any major part of our current infrastructure. At least, not outside the groomed modern layouts of some California cities where, oddly enough, most self-drivers are being developed and “proven.” Self-driving will be the engine that drives a separate transportation infrastructure. We won’t rebuild our aging roads and highways as much as parallel them with new ones that meet auto-drive needs. That’s how technological history progresses. There are very few cases of wholesale evolution within an existing system. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2016, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-populous-jobs-are-the-machines-stealing-next-and-what-jobs-will-those-people-do/764447/44 "2016-08-31T14:06:42Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > Big Box stores may end up automating out most of their store clerks, but it will take a while. At the moment, there are several warehouses, esp. for online shipping companies, that have moved to a robot model. The worker presses buttons depending on what they need, and there are a large number of robots that grab stock from shelves and bring it to them. If anything is damaged, they can request them to bring a replacement. The way that Amazon does this is the robot lifts the entire rack containing the needed thing and brings it to the stock clerk. (They bought a company called Kiva Systems for this and, from what I’ve heard, have thousands of these robots in use.) That avoids the whole issue of designing a robot to pick a randomly shaped object off a shelf. > [@RickJay](#): > > Flying drones strike me as being an absolutely ludicrous way to deliver packages. If you said “Rick, I want you to design a way of delivering packages that is technologically super cool but ridiculously expensive and commercially insane” flyoing drones would be my #2 choice, just behind actually putting the packages in ICBMs and launching them through space. As for this, I’ve seen YouTube videos demonstrating the process. They send you a paper that has a target and perhaps some sort of 2D code imprinted on it. You lay this out in your backyard or on the driveway and the drone uses this as the target for dropping the package. I agree that drone delivery sounds ludicrous, but they are completely serious about deploying it. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2016, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-populous-jobs-are-the-machines-stealing-next-and-what-jobs-will-those-people-do/764447/45 "2016-08-31T14:39:36Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > There are plenty of travel agents and they do well - the internet has made it _possible_ to fully plan your trip, but it is still diffiicult and timely to do it well. I wouldn’t use one to drive to another US city, of course, but for an international trip? I’d think about it. Exactly. It’s become a matter of convenience to use a travel agent, rather than a matter of necessity. Back in the day, you kind of had to go through a travel agent if you wanted to say… fly to Rome, stay a few days, go to Florence, stay a few days, and then go to Milan and stay a few days and fly back. They had the flight info, the hotel info and all that stuff. Now you _can_ do it all online yourself, but travel agents frequently have more experience with the system than you do, and may also have greater experience with the whole process- for example, when we went on our last trip, we had a travel agent plan the basics of hotels and flights. She happened to have been at it for 20-something years, and knew which hotels were better than others and WHY, and also knew which ones have better off-season rates than others. So we ended up at a great place in Rome where the view out of our window was onto the Pantheon and the square, and we didn’t pay astronomical prices, because the place has really generous off-season rates (we were there in mid-December), unlike their tourist-season rates which are a lot higher. I have a feeling that jobs that are relatively rote, but not quite what we’d think of as robotic are next on the chopping block as robots get smarter. For example, something like yard-mowing is probably going to be handled by something akin to a bigger Roomba in the future, and so will things like fast-food preparation, shelf-stocking, etc… ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_Hey\_Paula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hey\_Hey\_Paula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_Hey_Paula)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2016, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-populous-jobs-are-the-machines-stealing-next-and-what-jobs-will-those-people-do/764447/46 "2016-08-31T14:46:46Z")
> [@Gozu](#): > > You can buy wine and beer, just not liquor. There tends to be liquor stores in most supermarket plazas to cater to those who want the stronger liquids. In California you can buy liquor in the grocery store, not just wine and beer. And there are still plenty of liquor stores - though I must confess the last time I went into a liquor store all I bought was lottery tickets (as a Christmas gift for my coworkers, everyone got a $1 lottery scratcher). ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2016, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-populous-jobs-are-the-machines-stealing-next-and-what-jobs-will-those-people-do/764447/47 "2016-08-31T15:02:59Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > New England laws are pretty retro, CT’s especially. While the local super sells beer, everything else has to come from standalone stores that can’t sell anything else. Anything. They are limited to something like 5% of floor space even for things like mixers and chips. Do they still have the Sunday beer-aisle curtains? ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2016, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-populous-jobs-are-the-machines-stealing-next-and-what-jobs-will-those-people-do/764447/48 "2016-08-31T16:15:24Z")
> [@bump](#): > > For example, something like yard-mowing is probably going to be handled by something akin to a bigger Roomba in the future That one might take longer than you think, since yard-mowing involves spinning blades. When my Roomba runs into my foot, I don’t lose any toes… ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2016, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-populous-jobs-are-the-machines-stealing-next-and-what-jobs-will-those-people-do/764447/49 "2016-08-31T16:18:47Z")
Not that long. Robotic, Roomba-like automated lawnmowers [already exist](http://www.wsj.com/articles/does-a-robotic-lawn-mower-really-cut-it-1460488911). ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2016, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-populous-jobs-are-the-machines-stealing-next-and-what-jobs-will-those-people-do/764447/50 "2016-08-31T21:44:06Z")
Obviously, technologically we can have a lawn-mowing roomba. The problem is that it isn’t safe for children and other living things. Lots of technology like this can exist for decades as a curiosity, but nobody can figure out how to make it economical or safe. Then someone figures it out and a marginal technology becomes mainstream overnight. Look at the iPhone. We had decades of people trying to build something like this, but all previous commercial models were total failures. Then Apple figures out how to put all the features into a viable package and 9 years later smartphones are pretty much synonymous with “phone”. But of course this phone wouldn’t be useful without the ecosystem of web services that it can access, ubiquitous wifi, ubiquitous cell coverage and so on. So it isn’t just that smartphones now have better batteries and displays and UI. Without worthwhile content/communication channels available it’s just a toy. The phone itself is just a way of slipping the vast infrastructure of the modern communications industry into your pocket. It seems to me that self-driving trucks will first be used on those long stretches of highway between point A and point B. You’ll still need a driver/attendant for lots of tasks, but allowing that guy to sleep in the back for a few hours while the truck drives itself across Kansas can eliminate a lot of the inhumanity of the job of driving a truck. Keeping the truck between the lines and keeping station between other vehicles and braking for unexpected obstructions is already a solved problem. City driving is the real challenge. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2016, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-populous-jobs-are-the-machines-stealing-next-and-what-jobs-will-those-people-do/764447/51 "2016-08-31T22:42:58Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Endless hype and media love aside, I don’t think we will see self-driving vehicles as any major part of our current infrastructure. At least, not outside the groomed modern layouts of some California cities where, oddly enough, most self-drivers are being developed and “proven.” Self-driving taxis have started in Singapore and Uber is about to unleash self-driving cars in Pittsburgh. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2016, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-populous-jobs-are-the-machines-stealing-next-and-what-jobs-will-those-people-do/764447/52 "2016-08-31T23:20:25Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > Do they still have the Sunday beer-aisle curtains? Sunday beer, wine and liquor sales have been legal in Massachusetts since the Romney administration although the hours are slightly shorter than the rest of the week. You can also buy beer and wine in a lot of convenience stores and some supermarkets. I haven’t seen the actual curtains for years although I am sure there are still some around. Most places just lock the coolers and turn off the lights when beer sales are prohibited. Full liquor stores aren’t even open except during legal hours. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2016, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-populous-jobs-are-the-machines-stealing-next-and-what-jobs-will-those-people-do/764447/53 "2016-08-31T23:36:49Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > Self-driving taxis have started in Singapore and Uber is about to unleash self-driving cars in Pittsburgh. In a 2.5 km area with predefined stops. Interesting but not really suggestive that we will all be taking automated taxis from point a to b anytime soon. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-populous-jobs-are-the-machines-stealing-next-and-what-jobs-will-those-people-do/764447/54 "2016-09-01T00:02:12Z")
Since many AI applications operating in the real world will have to interact with humans (if only to not run over them), I suspect that in addition to their defined job they will have to have a lot of deep learning devoted to human interaction. Which leads me to wonder if something like the humanoid robots of science fiction will come to pass: general human recognition and interaction programming, with specialist modules plugged in for how to do an assigned task. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-populous-jobs-are-the-machines-stealing-next-and-what-jobs-will-those-people-do/764447/55 "2016-09-01T00:12:11Z")
I think military vehicles will adopt self driving before commercial cars and trucks. Actually since the Soviet and now Russians are big on automation, I would be amazed if they are not already working on it. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-populous-jobs-are-the-machines-stealing-next-and-what-jobs-will-those-people-do/764447/56 "2016-09-01T23:23:12Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > In a 2.5 km area with predefined stops. Interesting but not really suggestive that we will all be taking automated taxis from point a to b anytime soon. That’s still faster than the nay-sayers have predicted. It won’t be long before most major cities have a presence. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-populous-jobs-are-the-machines-stealing-next-and-what-jobs-will-those-people-do/764447/57 "2016-09-02T00:10:36Z")
> [@JcWoman](#): > > Not sure where you are, but over my 25 year career in corporate USA, I’ve seen administrative assistants become nearly extinct. When I started, each department had an admin. Over time I’ve seen them laid off and not be replaced. Today in the last few companies I’ve worked for, only the Chief Executives have admins, and often times two or three chiefs share one. Everybody else in the company is expected to type their own letters, emails, do their own filing, order their own supplies, etc. When I started in 1980 there was one admin for about 30 people. When I stopped working there was one for about 150 and she was mostly bored. Not out of laziness - she looked for work, but there was little to do. Basically instead of one admin for 3 first level managers, there is now one per vice president. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-populous-jobs-are-the-machines-stealing-next-and-what-jobs-will-those-people-do/764447/58 "2016-09-02T00:16:08Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > **bump** is absolutely correct - you can buy all the liquor you want at your local Target or Safeway in CA. There are no restrictions in place for alcohol content or type. And liquor stores continue to thrive. Small corner places do well wherever supermarket/box store penetration is lousy ( many poorer or remote areas ) and specialty stores like BevMo or wine merchants wherever there is cash to support them( everywhere in the Bay Area ). Might be a case by case situation, but liquor stores are not fading in permissive California. > > ETA: Ah, ninja’ed ( or rather, missed it 😉 ). In fact, though we have an active BevMo near us, a new big liquor store opened in a shopping center a few miles away. We get wine from BevMo when it is on sale, but when our daughter got married and we got to buy the wine for the reception, we went to them to get advice and order large quantities of it. The store people were quite knowledgeable. I like our Safeway, but I’d never take wine advice from them. I agree that ordering fast food from a person isn’t going to last long. There is no value add, and half the time some of your order is wrong. Like airline kiosks you can get more ordering stations with fewer people in less space. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-populous-jobs-are-the-machines-stealing-next-and-what-jobs-will-those-people-do/764447/59 "2016-09-02T01:41:56Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > Do they still have the Sunday beer-aisle curtains? Yes, but you can now buy booze on Sundays until 5. Truly, the late 20th century is almost here, here. Even some California stores have beer curtains, if they’re 24-hour. It makes it easier to close off the beer and such for the offsale hours of 2-6 a.m. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-populous-jobs-are-the-machines-stealing-next-and-what-jobs-will-those-people-do/764447/60 "2016-09-02T01:46:57Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > That’s still faster than the nay-sayers have predicted. It won’t be long before most major cities have a presence. Truly, the Church of Autonomous Vehicles has spread its word rapidly, and has only the most sincere converts. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-populous-jobs-are-the-machines-stealing-next-and-what-jobs-will-those-people-do/764447.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-populous-jobs-are-the-machines-stealing-next-and-what-jobs-will-those-people-do/764447.md?page=4)