What will happen as artificial intelligence and automation replace jobs?

When automation and artificial intelligence replace many jobs, workers will have no choice but to acquire new skills, knowledge, and competencies – adapt or perish. They have to reskill or reinvent themselves as new jobs are created or old jobs are lost or transformed.

The speed and ability of workers to reskill and reinvent themselves because of the impact of automation and artificial intelligence will be deciding factors of whether they will be jobless or in employment in the future.

Ideally, workers should be continuously future-proofing themselves against the potential negative impacts of automation and artificial intelligence so that they are always job-ready and future-ready.

They have to constantly anticipate what the future will look like, what jobs will be in demand, which jobs will be lost, and what skills future employers will be looking for.

They then have to work diligently in closing any of these gaps by constantly upskilling themselves with the relevant knowledge, skills, and information.

People don’t plan to fail. They just fail to plan for the inevitable of job losses occurring due to automation and artificial intelligence.

When that actually happens, unemployment levels will be on the increase and panic sets in quickly.

Remember this – complacency kills jobs.

Hopefully, with the negative impacts of automation, many workers will be shaken out of their comfort zones. They are forced to do something. There’s a sense of urgency.

But by then, it may be too late.

With the closure of a manufacturing plant, workers will be competing with each other for same vacancies elsewhere.

Therefore, the results of automation could either be unemployment or employment for workers, depending on how well prepared they are for the future of work.