Robots Are Coming For Your Job

Uncover the real issue

When stopping to analyze frames in the messages you hear, always look deeper for the real issue. An example: The Robots are coming for your job” places blame for the loss of your job on some amorphous technological threat. The real issue is that “Your boss wants to replace you with a robot”. Cory Doctorow at Boing Boing notes:

“The thing is robots don’t (yet) autonomously arrange to show up at your workplace, uninvited, and take your job. Instead, your boss entertains sales calls (or solicits them!) from companies who want to see your work replaced with a robot, and then your boss makes a decision about whether that replacement will come with an equitable sharing of the fruits of automation (shorter hours and higher pay all around!) or whether they will be hoarded by the forces of capital (“sorry, the robot stole your job, nothing I can do about it”).”

Important conversations are missed when the “Robots are coming” story misplaces the intention. The intention in the alternate frame “Your boss wants to replace you with a robot” is squarely on a business decision by a human and opens a conversation about what that means for the future of work and financial security for workers and communities. Getting the Stop phase of Stop, Drop and Roll right makes sure your message won’t be wrong!