Are Robots Taking Over?

July 13, 2018

By Michelle Branigan

Much media coverage during the last year has focussed on the emergence of robots, artificial intelligence technologies (AI), and the threat this poses to a significant number of Canadian jobs. So does this mean we need to hit the panic button? No, not yet.

But should you as an individual be paying careful attention to the role of technology in your job or organization?

Absolutely.

While AI and automation may eliminate very few occupations completely in the next decade, it will affect portions of almost all jobs to a greater or lesser degree, depending on the type of work they entail and the variability of tasks. Automation, now going beyond routine manufacturing activities, has the potential, as least with regard to its technical feasibility, to transform sectors, including electricity.

According to the International Energy Agency, the growing use of information and communications technology — digitalization — is increasingly permeating modern life, from the way people work and travel to the way they live and entertain. In my last article I wrote about the transformation of the energy sector, and how the growth of green technology, distributed energy, the smart grid, cyber security and the integration of electrical vehicles would impact the grid. Those changes will affect the skills that are required by employees.

Opinion differs as to how quickly changes will take place, and how rapidly jobs will be impacted. Bring the subject up at any conference or dinner table today and battle stations will be drawn.

In November, Horizons ETFs Management Canada launched the world’s first global exchange traded fund managed completely by artificial intelligence on the Toronto Stock Exchange. In your local supermarket more and more checkouts are automated. Driverless cars are being tested on Canadian roadways and many finance companies are already automating their accounts, to the point that some no longer require dedicated accounts payable and receivable employees.

Sunil Johal, policy director at the Mowat Centre think-tank at the University of Toronto, speaking to the Globe and Mail, commented that millions more Canadians, many of them highly skilled workers, could face losing their jobs over the next decade because of rapid technological advances, including in artificial intelligence and robotics, and the potential for automating increasingly sophisticated tasks.

He’s not alone in his views.

On the other side of the coin the C.D. Howe Institute’s 2017 study “Future Shock? The Impact of Automation on Canada’s Labour Market” reported that

• it is very unlikely that employment in occupations highly susceptible to automation (35% of Canada’s employment) will be completely replaced by smart machines over the next few years

• Canadian employment is concentrated in industries that have a low risk of automation, with industries where less than a quarter of the jobs are susceptible to automation accounting for 27.5% of total employment (4.9 million jobs). Industries where more than three-quarters of the jobs are at high risk of automation account for only 1.7% of employment (310,000 jobs). This implies that Canada’s diversified economy and labour force are well positioned to adapt to rapid technological change.

• occupations high in abstract, complex-decision-making skills with a strong focus on creativity, critical thinking and interpersonal social skills have a relatively low risk of being automated. An increase in demand for these skills is likely over the near and medium term.

This debate will continue for some time. However, ignoring progress — and resisting the technological revolution that is going on around us — is not a viable option. We need to understand which jobs will be impacted so that we can put in place the appropriate support for workers and update college and university programs, therefore minimizing both skills shortages and technological unemployment. We all have a role to play in learning how to adapt to a new environment, and that includes employers, employees, educators and governments. If we don’t… well, there’s a robot I can introduce you to.

Michelle Branigan is CEO, Electricity Human Resources Canada.