Will Designers be Replaced by Robots?

There’s no doubt that robots have changed the face of employment over the last 100 years.

 

From the factories of the Industrial Revolution to the Crypto Currencies currently overturning banking institutions, the idea of being replaced by machines has always seemed particularly terrifying.

 

– until it actually happens and we all move on.

 

And that’s just it. Since the invention of the first tool, we’ve been driven to create an even better one to replace it, each time leaving us with a little less work to do.

 

According to a study by Oxford University academics called The Future of Employment, around 50% of today’s jobs are at risk of becoming automated – but how is that surprising when any job that leaves no room for error is one that has always be better suited to a robot?

 

1. Doctors. Engineers. All the career options that you disappointed your parents by forgoing may soon be extinct anyway.
2. Design. Music.

 

So where in this modern mechanised mecca, do you, the humble designer fit in?

 

The answer: the same place you always will.

 

The goal of technology was to give us more time to live out our passions, and because of it we are fast approaching an age of ultimate human endeavour – a world where we will freer then ever to leave behind humdrum jobs and pursue higher career callings.

 

 

The business of emotion is one that needs a beating heart at the helm, and as long as there humans to feel it, there will be demand for things that make us feel.

 

To designers, A.I. isn’t the job-killer, it’s just another medium for us to make our mark with.

There’s no doubt that robots have changed the face of employment over the last 100 years.

 

From the factories of the Industrial Revolution to the Crypto Currencies currently overturning banking institutions, the idea of being replaced by machines has always seemed particularly terrifying.

 

– until it actually happens and we all move on.

 

And that’s just it. Since the invention of the first tool, we’ve been driven to create an even better one to replace it, each time leaving us with a little less work to do.

 

According to a study by Oxford University academics called The Future of Employment, around 50% of today’s jobs are at risk of becoming automated – but how is that surprising when any job that leaves no room for error is one that has always be better suited to a robot?

 

1. Doctors. Engineers. All the career options that you disappointed your parents by forgoing may soon be extinct anyway.
2. Design. Music.

 

So where in this modern mechanised mecca, do you, the humble designer fit in?

 

The answer: the same place you always will.

 

The goal of technology was to give us more time to live out our passions, and because of it we are fast approaching an age of ultimate human endeavour – a world where we will freer then ever to leave behind humdrum jobs and pursue higher career callings.

 

 

The business of emotion is one that needs a beating heart at the helm, and as long as there humans to feel it, there will be demand for things that make us feel.

 

To designers, A.I. isn’t the job-killer, it’s just another medium for us to make our mark with.

 

Written by

Gregory Walker