We've all heard about the idea of robots and AI taking over jobs and ultimately removing the need for humans, but it isn't all that simple. Robots are used just about everywhere in modern society, from factories to in-home devices like Roombas, but many have concerns that this will lead to job loss, and lack of job security in almost every kind of job. This is reasonable enough, but if it does happen, it will happen very slowly, as most if not all complex robots are very expensive, and fully automated robots meant to be capable of doing average human tasks are often faulty to some degree, making them impractical for most businesses as opposed to a human that could do the same job, for less, although it does depend on the nature of work itself.
By now you may be thinking something like "But what if robots replaced every job somehow, regardless of practicality/cost?" In the unlikely scenario where this happens, there would probably be a total economic collapse, now living in a world where money means nothing. I'm not going to debate how good or bad a world with no such thing as rich or poor would be, but the prior point is the exact reason a job-robot-takeover would never happen, since if there isn't any way to make money, then there won't be a way to spend money, which is bad for business.
I'm not saying that we shouldn't use robots at all, and I'm not saying that we should use robots everywhere, but there isn't a realistic or fair way to limit the amount of robots used per business to maintain a sort of equilibrium, so what do we do? The nature of this issue isn't so black and white, and as such, there is a possible middle ground, that being where robots are used as a means of convenience. A few immediate ideas may come into mind, such as manually operated police drones, automatic taxis, etc. But there is one option in particular that opens up more opportunities than not, that being the usage of manually operated robots as a means for the physically disabled to get a job.
One specific example is the "Avatar Robot Café" in Japan, a café run by the aforementioned robots operated by the physically disabled. This opens up job possibilities for people who normally would have no way of getting money, jobs, or in some cases, outside interaction. Many people are still torn between sides, but hopefully this leads to a solution that will satisfy everyone.
Great job writing this blog post! You make some good points about the benefits and downsides of automated careers. Your points are compelling, however they would be more compelling if you provided research to back it up. I also found it interesting that robots were being controlled by disabled people, which allowed them to have a job. I never knew that!
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