Why Robots won’t put you out of a job


The rise of robots is becoming a big story and some jobs are going to be badly hit. Benjamin Dyer of Powered Now looks at the likely impact and concludes that trades businesses are the least likely to suffer.


If Hollywood is to be believed, the


human race is doomed. The source of our untimely destruction? Robots, or more accurately Artificial Intelligence (AI). Every movie featuring a smart computer system apparently has a mission to destroy us. Now I’m a little cynical about this,


I’ve worked in the computer industry for a long time. Its hard to believe that AI is ready to fry my brains with a death ray while I’ve got to repeat myself ten times to ask Siri to open an email on my iPhone. However, the Terminator doesn’t


care how cynical I am, the truth is AI and Robotics development is moving at a terrific pace and while my untimely death probably isn’t at the top of its to- do list, something else is. That is our jobs.


Its already happened Of course, robots taking our jobs isn’t new, just ask the car industry. Thousands


of jobs have been replaced by automation by machines that don’t get sick, require a salary or need a duvet day. One of the first cars to be built this way was the dreadful Fiat Strada, launched


in 1979 in the UK and promoted via an ad campaign featuring the fact that it was built by robots. It didn’t take long for a wag to put together a spoof advert showing the car driven down the road with the caption, “Designed by computer, built by robots”, followed by a picture of a nasty crash entitled “Driven by morons”. Anyway, I was amused.


Machine learning The difference now is that the last handful of years have seen a genuine


breakthrough in artificial intelligence, powered by “machine learning”. This is where huge amounts of data are fed into an array of chips which then try to find patterns which are neither suggested nor programmed into them. Google fed a vast number of different images into such a machine in 2012 and


without being told anything about them, it started recognising cats. To give one example of the impact, self-driving cars are already a reality and are


close to being able to be deployed on a wide scale. This has been enabled by the developments in machine learning. The overall trend is that, while better and cheaper robots are being developed,


adding machine learning to them will make them much more intelligent and flexible in performing their tasks.


Specialist robots There are now many specialist robots available on the market. For instance,


Cyber-weld provide welding robots. Dyson have a range of robot cleaners as do Samsung. In Australia there is a company called Fastbricks Robotics that sell a robot bricklayer with the catch name of Hadrian. It can lay 1,000 bricks per hour. The range of tasks that can be done by


robots is only going to increase as time goes by.


The professions that should be worrying It’s interesting that the Law Society


recently published “The Future of Legal Services” where they stated that “Numerous legal tech companies, universities and law firms are now exploring the extent to which the cognitive domain of lawyers can be automated”. In the meantime, the ACCA have


published “Professional Accountants – the future”. Just dipping into this report, it states “Smart software and systems will replace manual work (such as bookkeeping) and automate complex and multifaceted processes”.


In both professions, there is a range of activities that could well be


computerised. It makes a change for these fat cat professions to face the challenges that many other ones have had to face in the past!


Trades are safe The good news is that most studies see the trade professions as some of the


safest around in terms of being replaced by robots. That’s probably because the mixture of knowledge and skills that need to be deployed in different situations (for instance in the cupboard under the stairs, under the eaves of the house, in the garden, up a ladder etc.) make it very difficult to design a machine that could do the job. Robots that would replace work in the trades would need to be general


purpose and hugely flexible. These don’t exist and aren’t likely to for a long time. The very variety and combination of mental understanding and physical skill that characterises professional trades people makes it very hard for a machine to emulate.


The future The funny thing is that if robots penetrate the trade space, it will likely be to


remove some of the more back-breaking aspects of the job. Dumb robots that can lift and manoeuvre heavy objects into place may well be among the more welcome developments, just like Hadrian the brick laying robot. Yes, there is a new industrial revolution coming, and while I don’t want to


speculate about its ability to eradicate the human race the good news is that the trade industry isn’t going to be de-skilled. If anything, robotics and AI is only going to push the boundaries of what is possible in our sector.


Obituary – John Jennings Hire Industry Legend A well respected and popular independent hirer and founder member of Hire Association Europe, died in the early hours of Friday 11th November after a long and brave battle with cancer. He was 71 and had served the hire industry for over 50 years; including Chairman of HAE in 1993/5, and served on the CPA and IPAF committees over a 30 year period. After a period working in plant distribution for International Harvester, in 1964 John joined Coventry-


based hirer Sterling Plant, thus setting out on his five decades of service to our industry. By the late 1970s, he had set up Alljay Tool Hire, based in Rugby. He sold this business to contractor Deeley Group in 1990, which merged it with Clements Plant – which Deeley had owned since 1967 – and re-branded the new operation as Clements Alljay, with John becoming MD. Graham Arundell, Managing Director, HAE said: “John was an intelligent, witty and well respected


member of the hire industry and will be remembered for his passion and remarkably popular Crosshire Column in EHN. Of course, John will always have a special place in our hearts being one of the founding members and more recently Chairman in 1993. Our thoughts and love go out to his family and friends.”


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