The chances you will lose your job to a robot are growing
Dr. Stephen Spurr, chair of the economics department at Wayne State University appeared on the Stateside with Cynthia Canty show on Michigan Radio. He was interviewed about how the increasing use of robots will affect jobs for humans.
The chances you will lose your job to a robot are growing
Story: A recent Oxford University report estimates that robots could replace nearly half of the current U.S. workforce.
The report found that office administrators, sales personnel, and those in the service industry are among those at risk of losing their jobs to robots.
Robots have become common in many workplaces since General Motors installed the first robot at a plant in New Jersey in 1961 ("Unimate," as it was called, could weld and move parts that weighed up to 500 pounds).
So can humans keep up, or at least keep ahead of the technology that is changing the workforce?
These are especially important questions here in Michigan, with its historic ties to the auto industry that makes up about 40% of the global supply of industrial robots.
Stephen Spurr, Chair of the Department of Economics and professor at Wayne State University, joined us today to explore the possibilities.