Robot automation will 'take 800M jobs by 2030' (2017)
I think the article has it backwards. The US and similar nations will be the least affected by this. Nations like India will be hit the hardest.<p>Humans are flexible. Machines typically aren&#x27;t. The more automation exists in a facility, the less flexible it becomes.<p>Until we hit AGI, I think there is a cap on how automated a facility should (not can) become.<p>A critical piece of this is that highly automated systems are expensive, and difficult to upgrade in a piecemeal fashion. Thus, using humans to tie systems together limits the amount invested in automation, and can save you money in the long run. US manufacturers are already aware of this, as some are dealing with the effects of aging overly automated production lines.<p>All of this depends on what you&#x27;re making and what quantity, but until we reach AGI, over-automating is a mistake manufacturers have made and will make again.<p>In the US and similar, we&#x27;ve automated about as much as we could given existing technology. Newly available technology raises the automation cap a bit, but not that much.<p>Contrast this with nations which are just getting to the point where mass automation is available and have a spiking per capita income. They&#x27;re much more likely to see massive amounts of automation, proportional to their increasing wages.