Quote:
Originally Posted by 8 Ball
Dude, I thought you were just kidding lol. Do you really think robots are gonna roll up to somebody’s house in the next 10 years, carefully pack away their belongings, as discussed with the sales bot, then paint their house? Maybe the new plumbing robot can assess why there’s water dripping through the light fixture in your kitchen, diagnose the issue, and calmly explain what options you have moving forward.
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It's important to note how hard any of this is to properly forecast. Keep in mind we went from "AI can't do math" to "AI is solving PhD level math" in about a year.
Based on the weekly progress we're seeing in robotics, I'd be surprised if anything you've listed here will be difficult within 5 years. I mean, with a series of cell phone photos and a ChatGPT subscription we can probably do 90% of your plumber scenario today. To me the more likely scenario is one guy shows up acting as a foreman for the 3 robots he brings along.
The thing with robots is once one learns a skill, they all have that skill. Training 1 to replace a lightbulb means that task comes off the list. We're starting to realize that they can successfully train in virtual environments, so instead of Neo learning Kung-Fu, it'll be a little R2D2 thing learning to swap out a light switch.
Capitalism talks, and replacing tradespeople is probably a trillion dollar treasure chest. I don't see how solving that "problem" doesn't get full attention from very powerful people.
The original thread question is outrageously difficult to answer. My kid is 15 and I'm at a total loss where to point him. Trades make the most sense yes, but when huge swaths of work disappear (basically anything that involves words), guess where everybody is going to end up?
So maybe "training people to be tradespeople" is the answer?
My serious answer is the "follow your passion" advice is overly simplistic and ignores a few factors. To me it works better if we find the overlap between:
1. What are you good at
2. What do you like
3. What does the world need
4. What will the world pay for
If you can hit at least 3 out of 4, you'll probably do great.