The Robot You WANT to Take Your Job

Let’s talk about the robot you WANT to take your job. (click2tweet)

This is the companion post to the monthly radio show (my segment) I do with Michele Price. You can listen to the whole show here and I hope you do. Nancy Duarte was the guest speaker. As usual, she knocked it out of the park.

In these companion posts I cover the core points of radio show and I add a bit more color, commentary and links when necessary.

So, let’s get started …

Admit it … when you were a kid you WANTED a robot to do your chores.

Am I right?

Well, guess what?

Today this is becoming a reality.

• Roomba revolutionized vacuuming the floors.
• There are also robots for mowing the lawn.
• There are more "personal" robots coming

The possibilities are endless, but some of the more obvious tasks related to humans and repetitive jobs in healthcare, financial services, utilities and construction, etc. will be over-taken by robots and automation.

If you ever watched The Jetsons you might have had grand visions of what the future might look like. Including a Robot Brushing Your Teeth. If you want to see how The Jetsons predicted the future check out this video.

Robotic Helpers have shown promise as:

• Companions to the elderly
• Yes, there is a "What The …" factor here, but the fact is … a robot can be always on and always attentive.
• Do you want to do that? If yes, god bless you.
• Health Aides / Aids - Getting Up and Cleaning Up, Moving Around, Monitoring activities --- exercise, eating, and anything else.
• Building Maintenance - painting, replacing light bulbs (in high or low places)
• Building Construction - Install a roof without risk to human lives, repetitive tasks for wires, plumbing, walls, etc.

More Complex Jobs

• Colonizing Space … Send a Robot to do a "man's job"
• Flying Planes, Steering Trains and Driving Automobiles
• Running Cities - cleaning, maintaining, designing, automating
• Laboratory Work - beyond packaging products. Actually making them from raw materials to final product … even material handling at all levels.
• Clearing a Hot Zone – There are some places where humans are not meant to be. Nuclear power plants (in the reactors), natural disaster areas, etc.

Robots can do all of these jobs and so many more.

Will robots “take” jobs from humans? Yes.

However, in many of these cases these are jobs humans probably shouldn’t be doing anyway. Any repetitive task, especially with additional risk, will be and should be replaced by a robot.

Anything that can be automated will be automated. (click2tweet)

This post is about the robot you WANT to take your job. As noted at the beginning I think you can admit it … there ARE jobs you want to give up to a robot. I know I’d like to hand off some of the repetitive tasks I have to do.

How about you?

• What’s the first task you will delegate to a robot? (click2tweet)
• How many personal robots do you think you’ll have by the year 2020?
• What kinds of things do you think robots should not do?

Inquiring minds want to know. Share your thoughts in the comments or ping me directly at any of the contact points below. I’d like to start a dialogue with you … or if you already have a “dialogue robot” then with your robot.

Image and Video Credits: Hanna-Barbera. Michele Price

Jeff is business advisor, mentor and community engagement expert. He has spent most of his career in the Enterprise Content Management industry. He brings over 20 years of Channel Sales, Partner Marketing and Alliance expertise to audiences around the world in speaking engagements and via his writing. He has worked for Microsoft, Kodak, and K2.

Connect with me on Twitter @jshuey

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I am a a contributing author to Entrepreneur, Elite Daily, Yahoo, US News and to the Personal Branding Blog