Automation’s Impact on the African American Community

Every day, approximately 10,000 baby boomers are turning 65 and many are retiring from jobs they have occupied for the last 30 years. It is easy to assume that this influx of retirees would create opportunity for millennials and offer news jobs. Paradoxically, many of our next generation employees are not interested in the jobs of yesterday. The jobs of tomorrow are quickly rising through automated technology while Manufacturing operators, Bank Tellers, Data Processors, Welders, Truck Drivers, Security, Food Preparation, Warehouse, Health Care Reporting, Office Administration, Package Delivery and more are all at risk. I have worked in manufacturing automation for 20 years (and counting.) I’ve witnessed the transition of technology among several different industries, including automotive, transportation, packaging, and aerospace while deploying over 2000 robots worldwide. I often feel conflicted due to my work as Robotics Engineer. In that role, I developed technologies that improved quality and safety, increased production, and reduced labor costs. As I continued to grow in my career, I realized that I created and added new jobs to the economy; however, many of those opportunities were not occupied by African Americans. After this revelation, I founded Illuminate STEM. Illuminate STEM’s mission is to create opportunities for the future workforce (K – 12) African American students in related areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Illuminate STEM prepares African American students to be competitive in the future global automated market through an interactive curriculum and competitive learning concepts. In 2019, McKinsey & Co. reported that some 132,000 African American jobs will be displaced as a result of automation by the year 2030. “By 2030, the employment outlook for African Americans — particularly men, younger workers (ages 18–35), and those without a college degree — may worsen dramatically,” the report’s authors said. “Additionally, we find that African Americans are geographically removed from future job growth centers and more likely to be concentrated in areas of job decline.” African American workers also tend to be clustered in lower-paying occupations, found the McKinsey analysis, which included data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Census and Moody’s Analytics. Seven of the top 10 jobs held by African Americans — cashiers, food-preparation and service workers, retail salespeople, customer-service representatives, office clerks, janitors and cleaners, and stock clerks and order fillers — also rank among the top 15 jobs at risk of automation-fueled displacement. Additionally, the report revealed, “African Americans are underrepresented in five out of the six projected fastest-growing geographical archetypes and are overrepresented in two of the six slower-growing archetypes, including the one archetype that has shown negative growth — distressed americana [struggling rural areas].” Due to the rise of COVID-19, the presence of automation has accelerated. However, the rapid increase indicates we will see much of the predicted automation as early as 2022. The robotics industry is currently experiencing record growth across the US. Leaders of the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) recently said, “Automation is the key not only to post-pandemic recovery, but to post-pandemic growth and progress”.  Robotics Advances Historically, robotics has seemingly produced more novelties than any other industry. We’ve seen laughably useless creations for our amusement, but now that the field has matured, the winds have shifted in a more utilitarian direction. Robots can not only be useful, but also lifesaving. Melanoma-Detecting Machines Frequently, concerns about melanoma — the most lethal form of skin cancer — prompt doctors to biopsy abnormal-looking moles that are actually benign. Biopsies, however, are surgically invasive and often leave scars. To lower the number of unnecessary biopsies, MELA Sciences built the MelaFind. This device performs a multispectral analysis of irregular skin lesions to help dermatologists better detect malignancy. Manufacturing Over the past two decades, humanoid robots have greatly improved their ability to perform functions like grasping objects and using computer vision to detect things. With these improvements, their ability to walk, jump and perform other complex legged motions have become as fluid as humans. In manufacturing, robotic arms are used to automate tasks where economically feasible. The fastest operate many times more quickly than human hands, and often pay for themselves in mere months. The University of Tokyo created a robotic arm so fast that it can catch a baseball thrown at 186 mph. White Castle—the oldest hamburger restaurant in the U.S.—announced that it's partnering with Miso Robotics, a Pasadena, California-based industrial automation company, to create a robot that will serve up hamburgers. Named Flippy, this robot will begin preparing patties and dunking fries into hot vats of oil sometime this fall. A McDonald restaurant in Arizona started using robots to run the store several years ago. Military The most advanced robots are used by the US military. PackBot®, made by the same company that makes Roomba®, iRobot Corp., serves as a robotic pack mule. Minesweeper robots are used regularly in the Middle East war to clear the road of improvised explosive devices. The SWORDS robot, a tracked recon/combat robot has also been used in Iraq, and its cost is declining to the cost of training a soldier, suggesting that in the not-too-distant future, robots may replace human soldiers for tasks not requiring human intelligence or interaction. A report out of Russia's military research center suggests the Kremlin is close to realizing an army of Terminator-like robot soldiers that could soon replace humans in battle. Continued from page 2 of 9, T. Southern HarozTec How shall African-Americans embark on the opportunity to reduce the foreseeable impact? What are the new jobs? How can the African-American population take advantage of these new jobs? To survive the disproportional impact of automation, African American must consider resetting their skillsets through training and certifications in Robotics, Robot Process Automation (RPA), Python, Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, Additive Manufacturing and Drone technology. Automation is not going anywhere, and as we move forward, we are poised to see more of it in our everyday lives. The question is, what role will African Americans play during this transition? Will they be disruptors, creators, innovators of this automated technology? Or do nothing?