How Robotics, Automation, and Artificial Intelligence Are Changing the Labour Market
A Revolt Not Against Machines, But Against Powerlessness
In January 1813, seventeen Luddites were executed in York, England. Many remember them as the ones who revolted against machines and smashed them. But was it really about the machines? Their anger wasn’t blind – they didn’t attack technology because they didn’t understand it. Quite the opposite. They were skilled textile workers who understood exactly what the arrival of new machines meant: not just a technical change, but a radical disruption of their livelihoods, dignity, and stability.
Their resistance was not primarily against the machine itself, but against the way progress was being implemented – without regard for the people it affected; instead of being retrained, they were replaced. Their story still resonates today: Not as a rejection of technology, but as a call for responsibility and social justice in how it is introduced.
History Doesn’t Repeat Itself, But It Rhymes (Mark Twain)
Two hundred years later, we’re facing a different technology – but the same questions. The rise of artificial intelligence, robotics, and automation is transforming the labour market in ways that are rapid, profound, and hard to predict. We may not see broken looms, but many feel a similar sense of frustration. It’s not nostalgia for bygone days, but uncertainty about where we belong in a system that’s changing faster than we can understand it.
These changes are not just technical – they are also value-driven. One of the biggest challenges of automation and AI isn’t technological, but social and ethical. Skills that were valued for years are suddenly losing relevance. In many sectors, technology can now replace manpower more efficiently and cheaply. And people who have spent their lives working with their hands or performing routine administrative tasks are left wondering: “What happens to me?”
As Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee write in Race Against the Machine, the digital revolution accelerates innovation and increases productivity but also puts pressure on the labour market. Unemployment isn’t rising because there’s no work – but because many people’s skills no longer match what the modern economy demands. It’s not a fight of man versus machine – it’s a race where humans must keep pace with technology that doesn’t slow down.
Some regions face a double blow: first, the offshoring of industry to cheaper countries due to globalization, and then a surge in automation that reduces demand for human labour even where manufacturing has remained. The result is a “sense of emptiness” – not just economic, but social and existential. Silent peripheries become the meeting point of a fading past and an uncertain future.
Technology as a Tool of Progress – and Change
In business, the use of technological innovation is practically essential. It offers opportunities to increase productivity and reduce costs. Most people tend to embrace technology to make their work easier. After all, who would resist mechanization in agriculture or manufacturing?
However, the world of technology includes many terms that are often confused – mechanization, automation, robotics, robotization, and artificial intelligence. While they may seem similar, they are not synonyms. Each represents a different stage in the evolution of technological intervention in human labour:
Mechanization refers to the replacement of human physical effort with machines to reduce the physical demands of work and increase productivity. A well-known example is the assembly line in car manufacturing, where robots and mechanical arms perform repetitive tasks. Another major shift was the mechanization of agriculture – such as replacing manual grain harvesting with combine harvesters, which significantly boosted efficiency and reduced the need for manual labour.
Automation involves replacing human intervention with machine or software-driven processes. For instance, automated package sorting in logistics centers requires no manual decision-making.
Robotics is an engineering field focused on designing, developing, and using robots. These robots can be physical – such as industrial arms – or mobile units like autonomous vehicles.
Robotization refers to the broader implementation of robots across various areas of the economy and society. Examples include the Da Vinci surgical robot used in highly precise procedures, autonomous robots in Amazon warehouses that move goods independently, or robotic vacuum cleaners like Roomba that automatically clean homes.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) represents the most advanced form of automation, where the system analyses data, learns from it, and makes decisions without being explicitly programmed for every scenario. A common example is a customer service chatbot that learns from interactions and improves its responses over time.
Industries the world over are experiencing these changes including the insurance industry. RPA (Robotic Process Automation) is increasingly used for data processing, contract validation, and customer communication. Tasks that once belonged to administrative staff are now often handled by digital robots – faster, cheaper, and error-free. But even here, one principle holds true: what matters is how technology serves people – not the other way around.
Adapt or Be Left Behind?
Technological changes are transforming the labour market faster than we can prepare for them. According to a study by McKinsey, up to 800 million jobs worldwide could be affected by automation by 2030. The World Economic Forum (WEF) estimates that over the next five years, approximately 83 million jobs will disappear – while 69 million new ones will be created. If these projections come true, this would result in a net loss of 14 million jobs.
Among the positions expected to be replaced by AI are warehouse and logistics workers, forklift operators, assembly line workers, bank tellers, underwriters, cashiers, bookkeepers and accountants, customer service representatives, data entry clerks, document drafters, social media content moderators, taxi and truck drivers, bike and delivery couriers, and translators. Many of these roles have already been partially automated or significantly affected.
On the other hand, new technologies are driving demand for roles such as: big data specialists, FinTech engineers, AI and machine learning specialists, software and application developers, security management specialists, data warehousing specialists, autonomous and electric vehicle specialists, UI and UX designers, Internet of Things specialists, data analysts and scientists, and environmental engineers. And, of course, we will still need physicians, registered nurses, medical assistants, home health aides, mental health professionals, physiotherapists, teachers, and other occupations that rely on human interaction or specialised care.
The challenge is that those most at risk often have the least ability to adapt. People living in regions with limited infrastructure, generational poverty, or cultural isolation often lack access to digital skills, education, or even the internet. According to Eurostat, 44% of adults in the EU have low or no digital skills. These groups are not only vulnerable to job loss but also to losing their social role, which can lead to frustration and an increased susceptibility to populism or extremism.
Adaptability is becoming the new norm, but not everyone has the same capacity for continuous learning and adjustment. If we fail to consider regional, generational, social, or cultural differences, we risk creating a new form of exclusion – digital poverty.
When the Machine Doesn’t Stop: A New World and a Return to Human Scale
Automation, robotics, and AI are reshaping not only the job market but our daily lives. We work faster, communicate through algorithms, and optimise everything – including ourselves. But the faster the machine, the more is expected of us: adaptability, flexibility, constant upskilling. If you can’t keep up, it’s as if you’ve failed.
But in the real world, not everyone starts from the same place. It’s like giving everyone the same school test – “climb the tree.” The squirrel shines, while the fish drowns in shame. And all anyone says is, “You just didn’t try hard enough…”
We hear a lot about equal opportunity in digital transformation, education, and the job market. But what about equity? What about justice? Setting the same rules isn’t enough when the starting lines are miles apart. And when the fish can’t climb the tree, no one asks why – only whether it was its fault.
Another metaphor? Picture a giraffe standing in water, only its head above the surface, yelling, “Come on in, it’s shallow!” A lion, zebra, and hippo all groan in unison: “You idiot…” That’s how perception of reality differs – depending on the height from which we view the world. For the tech and economic elite, uncertainty may feel like wet hooves. For many others, it’s dark water full of drowned hopes.
Now imagine an education system that hasn’t adapted. One that still teaches children facts instead of critical thinking. One that prepares them for yesterday’s world, not the one that’s emerging. If we want real change, we need reform – not just technical, but moral. Schools should teach how to learn. How to stay sane in chaos. How to understand people as well as technology. How to stay grounded when everything shifts.
Know Your Enemy
Once, people destroyed machines – literally. The Luddites smashed looms because those machines took their jobs. Today, we don’t destroy the machines – we ignore their impact. Change happens quietly – sometimes in code, sometimes behind closed doors in boardrooms. And maybe a new kind of rage is coming – not born of ignorance, but of exclusion from an economy transformed by technology faster than society can keep up.
This won’t be the rage of those who don’t understand. It will be the rage of those who were never heard. Those who didn’t want to destroy the new world – only to find a place in it. If we don’t make space for them, we won’t get a better future. Only stronger resistance.
Rage Against the Machines. Reloaded?
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