Rapidly, robots (and virtual bots) are taking over our jobs: according to one back-of-the-envelope projection, in 50 years, 70 percent of today’s occupations will likewise be replaced by automation.
Should we be worried?
Two hundred years ago, 70 percent of American workers lived on the farm. Today, automation has eliminated all but 1 percent of their jobs, replacing them (and their work animals) with machines. But the displaced workers did not sit idle. Instead, automation created millions of jobs in entirely new fields.
It’s not too early to start preparing for that future.
Looking ahead, curricula that foster creativity, by developing childrens’ intrinsic motivation for originality, encouraging their intellectual risk-taking, and cultivating their metacognitive ability to self-reflect, might be a good place to start.
