job revolution is coming,we can't ignore it

job revolution coming,we can't ignore it,

PHOTO: We are still only at the very beginning of the debate over the future of work, and the capabilities of technology.

We need to confront the changing nature of work and technology, and admit that jobs are on the line. Let's not bury our heads in the sand and let the discussion be dominated by vested interests and naysayers, writes Tim Dunlop.

While the Labor Party Conference was in full swing last week, there was a Fringe Conference running parallel to it. I went to a few sessions, including one that was called The Past and Future of Work.

It was an eye-opener, though not in the way I anticipated.

Overall, the speakers provided an interesting and heartfelt discussion, but what stood out was their total failure to mention any of the following: artificial intelligence, 3D printing, financialisation, the "sharing" economy.

Overall, the speakers provided an interesting and heartfelt discussion, but what stood out was their total failure to mention any of the following: artificial intelligence, 3D printing, financialisation, the "sharing" economy.

The words "robot" or "robotics" were not heard once.

How exactly do you talk about the future of work without mentioning any of these things - developments that are drastically changing what we understand by "work"?

It seems to me that the world is increasingly divided into two political types: those who think that - thanks to various technological developments - jobs we take for granted today will disappear and will not be replaced; and those who think this is some sort of massive exaggeration.

You'll notice that this is pretty similar to how people divide up over the issue of climate change too - acceptance and denial - and this is hardly surprising.

The debate often becomes less over the facts than a defence of entrenched positions (think coal and renewable energy).

As it happens, we are still only at the very beginning of the debate over the future of work, and the capabilities of the technology - especially robotics and artificial intelligence - still aren't clear enough for people to be able to say with any certainty what will happen.

So while we can point to, for example, the trialling of driverless cars on the roads of South Australia, and the actual use of driverless trucks in Rio Tinto's mines in Western Australia, the idea that entire swathes of jobs in the transport industry will no longer be required still seems remote.

Even an authoritative report like that put out by Oxford University in 2013 can seem somewhat unreal. Researchers Carl Benedikt Frey and Michael A. Osborne looked at 702 occupations in the United States and concluded that within the next 20 years, "about 47 per cent of total US employment is at risk" from technological advances.

If this seems scary - that almost half the jobs they looked at are likely to disappear inside 20 years - it isn't hard to find equally authoritative types who will tell you to calm down a bit.