It’s interesting to see this in the context of Leigh Alexander’s post about emotional labor.
Interesting and a little terrifying, because we’ll see a movement before 2050 to “put Women back in the Home,” and we’ll try monstrous things to codify and automate emotional labor, and all sorts of things…
I am afraid that simulating emotional labor will prove to be easier than expected. See what even a rudimentary state machine like Eliza can do, or the human-machine bonding achievable with e.g. Aibo.
See also:
So…for once in my life - transitioning was a positive career move?
I’m dreading the day when the robots can convincingly do my job of commenting in blogs all day long strong text ERROR 031 ironic self-reference self-consciousness overflow reboot/retry/random response?
Most librarians I know are women, and I think most library tasks would fit within those criteria. That’s rather sad–although if there’s a bright side it might mean libraries increasingly serve as places for human interaction.
Interestingly it was a male librarian I used to know whose philosophy was “If I wanted to help people I wouldn’t have become a cataloger.” I wonder if he ever stopped to think about how his job could potentially be automated.
I want to see a robot that can replace a carpenter. Yeah…
Sounds like the plot of Player Piano, Kurt Vonnegut’s first novel.
You rang?
Jobs being more likely held by either sex is already a sexist problem, which is either taken for granted or glossed over here.
Other than that, I find the phrasing (boom!) used to be surprisingly negative. Why is it a “dire” prediction? How does this make the jobs “vulnerable”? If people think of themselves as people instead of as a labor-commodity, I would think it could be liberating.
I wonder what that will do to the wage gap?
That gif is awesome! 
I imagine one of the effects will be that it will become much harder to enter certain careers, even when the jobs at the top remain secure. At the same time, it may be more difficult to build experience in jobs by doing repetitive tasks that have been taken over by computers.
Depends on what they’re building. A house? Prebuilt walls show up on site, eliminating days of labor, house prices drop 50K. I mean, a robot, build a car? What a crazy idea! At least they’ll never be able to drive.
Millwork bespoke furniture? You’ve got a better chance.
A Huf Haus?
Silly banana, that’s not how capitalism works.
It is when a team without labor shows up to sell the same product. Uber vs Taxis. One of them pays for labor and worker’s comp. The other does not. Guess who’s eating the other’s lunch.
Why not grow a tree in the shape of a house, via some programmed DNA?
It’s like the Fotomat virus all over again.
