Engineering and the Rise of the Robots

From HAL of 2001 to Watson on Jeopardy to drones over Pakistan, we have been growing our capabilities in the world of artificial intelligence and robotics over the last quarter century.  This growth has begun to accelerate with broad ramifications for many social, political, and economic institutions.  Advanced technologies in the coming years will have a profound impact on most labor intensive industries.  This includes how your hamburger gets prepared at McDonalds; how your lawn in mowed; how you learn in school; and what flies your airplane to Miami.  Do not forget that all of the professional services are labor intensive - - the spread of advancing technology will leave a large chunk of global professional workers in the lurch.  From robotics in surgical units, to algorithms searching legal documents, to decision support design tools for engineers and architects - - huge technology based disruptions are on the horizon for the professional service industry.

A paragraph to ponder from Edward Luce and his Financial Times column (Obama must face up to the rise of robots) on Monday:

"With each month, the US economy becomes steadily more automated.  In January the US economy added just 4,000 manufacturing jobs, and the net increase since July is zero.  Yet last month, manufacturing rose by its fastest rate since April, according to the Institute for Supply Management.  The difference boils down to robots, which pose an increasingly nagging paradox; the more there are, the better for overall growth (since they boost productivity); yet the worse things become for the middle class.  US median income has fallen in each of the past five years."