Much is being made of Artificial Intelligence as the next great development. From robots ranging from factory floors to the yet experimental ones in homes they are being touted as the answer to the lack of skills in manual labour. Restaurants are eyeing robots as the easy and one time investment to replace traditional labour and major car manufacturers already have in place armies of robots on manufacturing floors. What is being missed out on is that this goes against the labour intensive industries required for millions around the globe. Leading manufacturers see this as an opportunity to reduce costs and raise efficiency but such measures go against one of the key factors for elected government by way of jobs.
Essentially manual jobs are going to be replaced more so in countries where birth rates are low or in the negative. The bulk of Japan's population will be above 65 in a couple of years and given their longevity citizens living in micro-bubbles away from kith and kin will need assistance both in tackling chores at home and in the streets. Similar is the case with Europe and to an extent the United States as Home knit families become a matter of the past. So when it comes to efficiencies, manual labour-driven countries will really have to pull up their socks or risk meeting deadlines.
The job market is improving in the United States where excepting from hi-tech industry manual labour especially in the construction sector employment is showing upsides. Farming is another sector where manual labour is still in demand, hence the hullabaloo over migrant workers from neighbouring countries. What goes against it is the large subsidies paid to farmers not to produce and thereby prevent a glut of grain and other agricultural crops.
In the wired equation millions go hungry every day driven by lack of those subsidies and the ever present armed conflict as opposing factions lay their claim to democracies and dictatorships. The Yellow Vest movement in France was sparked by fuel taxes but now focuses on livelihood as is the case with Venezuela, Sudan and Algeria. Any thoughts of Artificial Intelligence being employed there certainly won't be welcome.
On the flip side education systems must be rejigged to prepare future job seekers for the joist with robots and such though given the probabilities of mechanical breakdowns back up persons will still be required. Self-driven cars sound sexy enough but we've already had at least one example of a minor accident where only human logic could have prevented it. It's as likely as electric cars when most countries can't light up all their homes yet and still ambitious targets are being set for phase out of fossil fuel-driven cars from a number of countries in the world.
Bangladesh isn't ready either for Artificial Intelligence or electric cars with technology still not up to the mark and electricity still in a deficit mode. The law and order situation is also not stable enough to position electrical charging posts with uninterrupted power and a high dependence on fossil fuel to charge the electricity generating units. The biggest challenge lies in finding work for the estimated 500,000 job entrants each year as well as the labour force entering the market.
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