[tma-1]

No we don't, I am not anti-progress but my personal opinion is that increased automation will lead to further inequality and potentially economic contraction. Thing is, we are not born equal, different people have different skills, we can't be expecting everyone to become an engineer or a scientist. Blue collar workers losing their jobs will not lead to interesting times...

[kbaldor]

I'm pretty sure that the these are the sort of interesting times to which the grandfather intended to refer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_you_live_in_interesting_ti...

[chrisfosterelli]

> we can't be expecting everyone to become an engineer or a scientist

We don't have to. There are many complicated jobs that aren't white collar but still require a highly skilled individual and are not currently achievable by robotics (millwrights for example).

The OP is referring to removing monotonous, simplistic, repetitive jobs.

[knieveltech]

True to a point but you're trying to handwave around some very simple math. We are not seeing new industries emerge that require large pools of labor which means the jobs being wiped out by automation are not being replenished.

[chrisfosterelli]

> We are not seeing new industries emerge that require large pools of labor which means the jobs being wiped out by automation are not being replenished.

Do you have a citation for that? I would be interested in seeing that. According to the Chinese government (which has been accused, in fairness, of fudging the numbers) their unemployment rate is highly stable.

Historically, as countries transition from developing to developed their workforce will shift from primarily non-skilled labour to primarily skilled labour [1]. China appears to be following this line naturally, if you trust their reported unemployment rates.

[1]: http://images.slideplayer.com/21/6263323/slides/slide_12.jpg

[knieveltech]

I do not have a citation. Are you aware of any combination of industries that have emerged in the last 30 years that have produced strong demand for unskilled or semi-skilled labor? Housing & construction hasn't blown up, manufacturing sector jobs have vanished. Mining is in sharp decline. Forestry has automated away most of it's workforce. Infrastructure is also in the toilet. So what am I missing?

[douche]

http://strikemag.org/bullshit-jobs/

Basically hiring people to dig and fill up white-collared holes.

[namsral]

It will take time, most likely a generation.

The generation preceding the current generation will be better educated and take-on the more skill demanding jobs.

[knieveltech]

What more skill demanding jobs, specifically? Where?

[maxerickson]

Those jobs can still get hit hard by new technologies that obviate a skill or assistive technology that allows a single worker to do more.

[gnaritas]

> Blue collar workers losing their jobs will not lead to interesting times...

Sure it will, because it'll force large social changes and such changes are interesting regardless of whether they're bad or good.

[ghurtado]

I think you may be ascribing meanings to the word "interesting" and conflating it with "good, positive, benign" change.

World War III breaking out would most certainly be considered "interesting" news, although there is absolutely nothing positive about it.