Comments by "Bo McGillacutty" (@Mrbfgray) on "The Dark Side Of The Singularity | Answers With Joe" video.

I agree, non routine work is still a long way from being robotized and there is too much to do and too few folks able and willing to do it. Every employer I talk to is exasperated by how hard it is to find just minimally adequate employees for ANY type of job.
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Why is THIS time different? We've had the same predictions for basically the same reasons at least since the Luddites 200 years ago. Instead we all got vastly richer and far superior jobs leaving the worst of the drudgery to machines. The horse became obsolete but the 'horse men' did NOT, they didn't just die they learned new trades and how to drive a car. If machines replaced jobs instead of simply re-inventing them (as they always have SO FAR) then UNemployment today would be around 99%, not 4%. One thing has never changed in my 35 years of being in business....It's still incredibly difficult to find qualified folks able and willing to do difficult jobs. Some of these jobs are replaceable by robots soon others are several orders of magnitude harder to robotize than, say driving a semi truck or assembly line work. Diesel mechanic or maintenance welder for example, very NON ROUTINE work requiring thoughtfulness and continuous creativity. (you didn't think such job descriptions were so demanding but that's only because Americans are foolishly taught to disrespect any work that gets your hands dirty) Good riddance to truck drivers and Fedex package destroying personnel!
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@mk3ferret I lucked out both last time (great recession) and this shameful failure of government--happen to be surrounded by agricultural dominated landscape and I can't keep up with business, as usual. Last time 'everything changed' as my construction customers suddenly stopped but I had already been gradually swinging toward ag., this time ag related are exempt. Very few cases of the virus and zero fatalities in my county.
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@mk3ferret I learned long time ago to avoid "retail customers" (with a few exceptions, it can be rewarding to help someone passing thru but stranded with a breakdown say) and serve business with $100k to $2M industrial machines that lose thousands per day for down time, my substantial bills don't look bad on that background. Quality, speed, high skill and integrity...big opportunities there and always have been.
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