The Robots are Coming: A Human’s Survival Guide to Profiting in the Age of Automation

200 Pages·2017·1.49 MB·English

by  John Pugliano

Text copyright © 2017 John Pugliano. Design and concept copyright © 2017 Ulysses Press and its
licensors. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized duplication in whole or in part or dissemination of this
edition by any means (including but not limited to photocopying, electronic devices, digital versions,
and the Internet) will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Published in the United States by:
Ulysses Press
P.O. Box 3440
Berkeley, CA 94703
www.ulyssespress.com
ISBN: 978-1-61243-705-7
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Acquisitions: Casie Vogel
Managing editor: Claire Chun
Editor: Renee Rutledge
Proofreader: Shayna Keyles
Indexer: Sayre Van Young
Front cover and interior design: what!design @ whatweb.com
Cover photos: robot © Ociacia/shutterstock.com; man © SFIO CRACHO/shutterstock.com
Layout: Jake Flaherty
Distributed by Publishers Group West
NOTE TO READERS: This book is independently authored and published and no sponsorship or
endorsement of this book by, and no affiliation with, any trademarked brands or other products
mentioned within is claimed or suggested. All trademarks that appear in this book belong to their
respective owners and are used here for informational purposes only. The author and publisher
encourage readers to patronize the quality brands mentioned in this book.
This book is dedicated to my paternal grandparents, Antonio and Maria, who
were born in a remote Italian village in the early 1880s. They were able to
rise up from near-medieval poverty because of the amazing technological
innovations of the twentieth century. May we all live such long and
fascinating lives.
CONTENTS
Introduction
Part One: Humanity
Chapter 1: Think Like a Human
Chapter 2: The Threat of Automation
Chapter 3: Enabling the Disadvantaged
Chapter 4: Seek Practical Education
Chapter 5: Transform Knowledge into Wisdom
Chapter 6: Developing Your Human Touch
Part Two: Entrepreneurship
Chapter 7: Think Like an Entrepreneur
Chapter 8: The Creative Advantage
Chapter 9: An Economic Primer
Chapter 10: Monetizing Your Human Touch
Chapter 11: Future Career Opportunities
Part Three: Saving
Chapter 12: Think Like a Saver
Chapter 13: Real Estate
Chapter 14: Debt Instruments (Bonds)
Part Four: Investing
Chapter 15: Think Like an Investor
Chapter 16: Commodities
Chapter 17: Company Ownership (Stocks and ETFs)
Conclusion: The Robots Are Coming
About the Author
INTRODUCTION
If you are like most readers, you might gloss over a book’s introduction or
skip it altogether. This book is unique, and I advise you to read the
introduction. The Robots Are Coming is not a prediction of future events, nor
is it simply an assessment of automation’s impact on our lives. The book is
written to serve as a guide or manual. It is an interactive document with
actionable instruction designed to help you survive and navigate through the
tumultuous robotic times ahead. Uniquely, the topics discussed will be from
the perspective of employment, as well as taking into account economic and
investment concerns.
The best way to use this book requires your active participation. Throughout
the book, I have provided Action Plans that will help you build your own
survival plan. The process laid out in this book is meant to be iterative rather
than a quick and simple informational read. Take the time to read the content,
ponder its implications on your personal situation, and then take action to
prepare yourself for the impact of an automated world. Reread and reconsider
as necessary.
Professionals, Take Heed
Some inaccurately believe that automation will disproportionately have a
negative impact the working class blue collar employee. The premise of this
book is that over the past generation, those labor-intensive blue collar jobs
have already been discounted by automation. The real bite of the next round
of automation will be felt by the previously insulated white collar workers,
like middle management, legal, and medical professionals.
Higher income earners that have so benefited from the efficiencies of the
information age will soon find their services in direct competition with the
next wave of technology. Big data, advanced algorithms, inexpensive
sensors, and robotics will all converge to tackle the lucrative jobs of the white
collar professional. Any job function that is routine and predictable will be a
target for efficiency improvements through automation. Automation will
aggressively supersede the work of highly compensated professionals
because replacing human labor in those jobs will provide the highest return
on investment. Yes, labor-saving devices will replace employees at fast food
restaurants, and society’s budget-cutters will invest in technology that makes
medical professionals who earn $300,000 salaries redundant.
No Crystal Ball
We cannot predict the future. The best we can hope for is to anticipate and
then adapt and overcome. Throughout this book, I have used historical
references as a basis for assessing future outcomes. Exactly what
technologies will be developed and how quickly society will adopt them is
uncertain. Logic would indicate that both development and adoption rates
will continue to increase, as they have since the Industrial Revolution. So the
impact will likely be sooner rather than later.
Some assumptions about the future must be considered as the basis for
formulating a starting point. However, the intent of this book is not to predict
which technologies will prevail. The value of the book’s insight is to help
you develop survival strategies for the inevitable economic changes brought
on by automation, regardless of the specific technology employed.
While future technologies will be discussed in this book, its emphasis is on
mankind, not the machine. For while we cannot predict the future, we can
with some certainty predict people’s actions. Human characteristics, such as
love, hate, fear, and greed, appear to be uninfluenced by technological
change. As such, we will explore what I have found to be the historical
constant and future solution: your unique humanity, or human touch.
How to Use This Book
This book is comprised of four parts, each beginning with a chapter that
challenges you with a cognitive instruction:
Think like a human, not a machine.
Think like an entrepreneur, not an employee.
Think like a saver, not a consumer.
Think like an investor, not a speculator.
Each chapter ends with an Action Plan to help you consider how automation
might be a threat and to provide coping responses. Use these exercises to help
you think in economic rather than emotional terms. The economic reality of
the coming automation revolution is that the robots are coming to take your
job. Ultimately, this fact will not be altered by emotional response, political
policy, or unionized negotiation. If you want to remain competitive in the
face of automation, it cannot be done simply through productivity. A human
cannot outperform a robot at a repetitive task. The robot will eventually win.
Your competitive edge must come from filling an economic niche that is
based on your human touch. Use the Action Plans as your template for
aligning realistic market needs with your unique talents. Out of necessity, the
exercises are generic in nature, with open-ended questions that can apply to a
broad audience, equally applicable to the carpenter or the cardiologist.
The reader is ultimately responsible for drilling down to specificity, because
that is the way the real world works. There are no cookie-cutter answers. The
harder that you work to answer and adapt the Action Plan questions to your
own situation, the more likely you will find a viable solution to your unique
place in the robotic future. Ultimately, your place in the future can only be
determined by you. I cannot know what is right for you, nor can anyone else.
It is a personal journey that is your responsibility. As an author, I can act only
as a guide and encourage you to think for yourself; thus, the four cognitive
instructions that begin each section.
Corps of Discovery
The Corps of Discovery was the official name of the Lewis and Clark
Expedition of 1804, which you are probably very familiar with. Lewis and
Clark were commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson to explore the
newly acquired territory of the Louisiana Purchase. A key objective was to
locate a navigable water route across the continent to the Pacific Ocean.
Believe it or not, the Corps’ expedition is specifically relevant to your
journey into the unknown robotic future for three reasons.
First, Lewis and Clark had no specific map to follow. The belief of the time
was that the Missouri River bridged the continental gap to the Pacific coast,
but no one knew for sure. Since the Corps had no specific map to follow, they
could only pursue a general course and hope for the best. To improve their
odds of success, they prepared for the trip by developing useful skills:
navigation, bush craft, medicine, and scientific discovery methods. Likewise,
you should prepare for your uncharted course into the future by setting out in
a general direction accompanied by useful core skills.
Second, the intention of the expedition was for commercial purposes. Today,
we romantically remember Lewis and Clark as glamorous explorers and
credit their many scientific discoveries, but Jefferson specifically
commissioned the Corps to find ways to commercially exploit the region.
Your journey should similarly include the long-term goal of building wealth,
thus this book’s emphasis on economic and investment matters.
Third, the expedition was graced with good luck. In addition to the
preparation and skill of the men, good fortune played a decisive role.
Stranger than fiction, Sacagawea’s involvement is one of a fairy tale heroine.
Sacagawea joined the Corps as the pregnant companion of a French trapper.