The port strike is about Ai and robots

The headlines surrounding the union-led port strike is about the large pay increase the longshoremen are seeking. They will not settle until the next contract exceeds a 50% increase in pay.

The union leader has released fiery speeches about how the union is more than willing to cripple the entire U.S. economy if their demands are not met.

As a result of the strike, we can expect inflation to rise in some sectors of the economy. Business owners and customers alike do not often realize how dependent we all are on the consistent work of these port workers.

The strike seems as if will especially hurt my own wallet, as banana prices are set to soar due to the large dependence on the ports of the eastern United States.

But this strike has less to do about money and most to do about automation and Ai.

The union sees the writing on the wall. The companies who run the ports are looking to break contract and begin installing automated and robotic and artificially intelligent systems. Longshoremen will begin losing their jobs.

They will be replaced by robots that will not ask for higher pay. By automated systems that can work night and day. There will be no sick days or holidays.

And there will never be a strike that shuts down the economy.

The future is already here. We need to prepare ourselves and the next generation for an increasingly Ai automated world where many jobs are going to be obsolete.

Just off the top of my head, I know that in the next ten years these human jobs will become more and more scarce: call centers, accountants and bookkeepers, assembly line workers, package pickers (think Amazon warehouse workers), drivers (taxis and Ubers), legal professionals, and on and on.

Those are job fields I have heard being impacted right now. As soon as these companies can find the appropriate infrastructure, they will install them and humans will be replaced.

But where one job gets depleted, another takes it’s place. There is plenty of optimism for those who exist in this economic climate.

I asked Grok (X’s Ai platform) what job fields are immune to Ai, robotics, and automation, and this is a list it come up with:

1. Healthcare Professionals - Especially roles involving direct patient care, empathy, and nuanced decision-making like nurses, therapists, and certain types of doctors.

2. Educators and Teachers - Particularly those involved in early childhood education or teaching subjects that require personal interaction, creativity, and emotional intelligence.

3. Artists and Creative Professionals - This includes musicians, artists, writers, and designers where originality, emotional depth, and personal touch are paramount.

4. Social Workers and Counselors - Their work involves deep emotional connections, understanding, and support which are hard to automate.

5. High-Level Strategists and Innovators - CEOs, entrepreneurs, and high-level consultants where strategic foresight, innovative thinking, and leadership are crucial.

6. Judges and High-Level Legal Advisors - The nuanced interpretation of law, ethics, and human judgment in legal proceedings.

7. Clergymen and Spiritual Leaders - Roles involving spiritual guidance, community leadership, and personal faith issues.

8. Complex Problem Solvers in Unpredictable Fields - This might include investigative journalism, where human intuition and ethical judgment are key.

9. Physical and Manual Labor in Artisan Fields - Craftsmen, bespoke tailors, or chefs where the personal touch or specialized skill adds significant value.

10. Entertainers and Public Figures - Actors, comedians, and public speakers where personality and live interaction are irreplaceable.

11. Personal Care and Service - Roles like hairdressers, personal trainers, or massage therapists where personalized service is central.

12. Ethical and Philosophical Thinkers - Philosophers, ethicists, or cultural critics requiring deep human understanding and philosophical inquiry.

13. Specialized Technical Jobs - Especially in fields where AI might not fully grasp nuances, like certain types of engineering requiring creative problem-solving or bespoke solutions.

14. Surgeons for Complex Surgeries - While robotics aids surgery, the most delicate and complex surgeries might still require human precision and adaptability.

15. Real Estate Agents - Especially for high-value property transactions where trust, personal negotiation, and local market knowledge are key.

16. Sales Roles Requiring High Empathy or Negotiation Skills - Such as luxury goods sales, where understanding client needs deeply and forming relationships are crucial.

17. Custodians of Cultural Heritage - Curators, historians, or archaeologists where interpreting cultural artifacts requires human intuition and historical context.

18. Emergency Response Professionals - Roles where quick human judgment, emotional support, and real-time decision-making in unpredictable scenarios are vital.

19. Complex Interaction Designers - Designing user experiences that require understanding human psychology, emotion, and behavior beyond what AI can predict.

20. Interpersonal Conflict Resolvers - Diplomats, mediators in complex disputes where human judgment, empathy, and negotiation are irreplaceable.

“These fields tend to require elements of human interaction, creativity, emotional intelligence, adaptability, and ethical judgment that are currently beyond the scope of AI, automation, or robotics. However, it's worth noting that even within these fields, certain tasks might be augmented by AI, suggesting a future where humans and AI collaborate rather than compete.”

There will always be work to do, we just need to do a better job looking at the trends of technology and developing the skills necessary to provide value in the next phase of world history.

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