Bill Gates Says Robots Will Steal Our Jobs, Make Demand For Human Workers 'Substantially Lower'

Bill Gates Says Robots Will Steal Our Jobs, Make Demand For Human Workers 'Substantially Lower'

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Bill Gates, the former CEO of Microsoft, current Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and one of earth's richest people, spoke bluntly about the future of human labor at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, DC this week.  His outlook?  Bleak.

While discussing the increase of automation technology in the workplace, Gates dropped a few haunting lines concerning how many people in the coming decades will be out of work.  "Software substitution, whether it’s for drivers or waiters or nurses… it’s progressing. Technology over time will reduce demand for jobs, particularly at the lower end of skill set… 20 years from now, labor demand for lots of skill sets will be substantially lower. I don’t think people have that in their mental model.”

20 years from now, labor demand for lots of skill sets will be substantially lower. I don’t think people have that in their mental model.

No specific word from Bill as to how "substantially" the need for human workers might fall, but considering that a well-known humanitarian like himself later went into detail about how governments -- as Yahoo put it -- "should basically get on their knees and beg business to keep employing humans over algorithms"...things aren't looking great.  

Who would have thought computers would be the reason most Americans are driven out of work? Guess there's nothing left to do now except get on our computers and talk about it.

via [Yahoo]

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