Giving Compass' Take:

· Writing for Brookings, Jack Karsten addresses the rise of automation and explains how emerging technology can either replace workers or train them for different positions.

· How will employment opportunities change as automation infiltrates the workforce? How can technology be used to create more job opportunities?

· Read more on this topic and the future of work with emerging technology.

In 2012, venture capitalist and entrepreneur Marc Andreesen predicted that jobs will be divided between “people who tell computers what to do, and people who are told by computers what to do.” Already, smartphones and other internet-connected devices assign work in a wide variety of environments, from Amazon warehouses to city streets. Workers that take assignments from computers may see their jobs completely automated as artificial intelligence and robots become more capable over time. However, these same devices also have the potential to train workers in new skills and ride out successive waves of automation.

Skills training typically comes through higher education or from companies themselves. However, rising college tuition costs and shrinking investments in training reduce the opportunity for employees to acquire the skills needed for new kinds of work. Now, newly-emerging technologies may help to fill this void in skills training. Augmented reality and virtual reality can bring computers to manual jobs far removed from an office, giving companies and workers more options for how and where retraining takes place. Rather than requiring employees to go to a classroom or an online portal, AR and VR headsets can teach workers new skills on-site.

Automation was once primarily the domain of factories and other controlled environments where machines could replace manual labor. Next, mainframe and personal computers took over cognitive labor in laboratory and office settings. Now, smartphones and other internet-connected devices enable workers to carry computers with them wherever they go. Thus equipped, a worker can take on manual tasks assigned by a computer that has taken over much of the cognitive work.

Read the full article about emerging technology and employment by Jack Karsten at Brookings.