AI robots will exceed the working population within a few decades as more firms adopt AI agents and continue to squeeze costs, a former Citi executive warned on Monday.
Rob Garlick, Citi Global Insights’ former head of innovation, technology, and future of work, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” that as leaders continue to prioritize profitability, their human workers will be left in the dust.
NoNote7867 on
1960s media be like “We may have bases on moon and mars in a few decades as moon landings and space travel ramps up”
SpeshellED on
Well that’s good. Humans would find it tough labouring in 45C plus temps. ( 113 F )
We do not talk about the effects of wide scale automation on workers. We just pretend it’s not happening.
ale_93113 on
Last year, there were 16000 general purpose robots, which means that there were 8000 human births per every general purpose robot built
On January 2000 more were made, pushing the ratio to 5000:1
This year it is expected that more than 100k will be built, this means, about 1000 human births per every general purpose robot, or about as many general purpose robots as new Romanians will be minted
What will the ratio be in the following years? It’s impossible to say, even getting data from 2024 was impossible, as the field is just THAT new, the general purpose robots of 2026 will undoubtedly be much more capable than those of 2025, and those of 2027 extremely better than those of 2026
I just think that this ratio is an interesting one to keep in mind
Wonderful-Medium7777 on
Who are the people doing this?
Why do they want to rid of the people?
dgkimpton on
Inherently, replacing human labour with machines (robots) is a Great Thing… unfortunately it isn’t being used to free up humans from needless work but to centralise wealth in the hands of the few which instead turns it into an existential crisis.
Society desperately needs to reign in the rich and limit wealth accumulation so that we can all benefit from automation.
friendly-sam on
I hope they buy all the products, because humans won’t be able to afford it.
Remote_Researcher_43 on
A few decades? Damn, I thought it was sooner than that.
ryry1237 on
I’m frustrated at the lack of definition of “robot”.
Does it include assembly robots on a car manufacturing line?
Does it include the self driving car itself?
Does it include AI agents handling digital work?
Does it include a dishwashing machine?
Or does it only count humanoid robots which are honestly not nearly the best design for many specialized job roles?
geek66 on
We have the technology to create enough goods to feed, house and provide healthcare to everyone – and support common recreation like parks and entertainment- with less than 40 hrs per week of labor.
The part that is broken is the “system” is 100% based on commercializing everything.
NatalieSoleil on
What if we can’t/ will not buy anything a robot / Ai system/ whatever automated made or produced or provided? How is a robot or Ai system valued in this monetized world where tax is expected to be paid to uphold a normal functioning coherent society?
hjadams123 on
I guess the robots will buy their products as well…
notatrashperson on
This is going to happen way sooner than a couple decades
p2dan on
Good. Give us UBI so I can go on vacation and relax
CraigLake on
The factory I work at plans to have the same production it does now in five years with four people per shift vs 16. Absolutely crazy. Politicians are nuts if they think manufacturing is gonna bring jobs back.
16 Comments
From the article
AI robots will exceed the working population within a few decades as more firms adopt AI agents and continue to squeeze costs, a former Citi executive warned on Monday.
Rob Garlick, Citi Global Insights’ former head of innovation, technology, and future of work, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” that as leaders continue to prioritize profitability, their human workers will be left in the dust.
1960s media be like “We may have bases on moon and mars in a few decades as moon landings and space travel ramps up”
Well that’s good. Humans would find it tough labouring in 45C plus temps. ( 113 F )
Robots already outnumber workers… in factories.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/jobs/comments/r5uz1v/automation_helped_kill_up_to_70_of_the_uss/](https://www.reddit.com/r/jobs/comments/r5uz1v/automation_helped_kill_up_to_70_of_the_uss/)
We do not talk about the effects of wide scale automation on workers. We just pretend it’s not happening.
Last year, there were 16000 general purpose robots, which means that there were 8000 human births per every general purpose robot built
On January 2000 more were made, pushing the ratio to 5000:1
This year it is expected that more than 100k will be built, this means, about 1000 human births per every general purpose robot, or about as many general purpose robots as new Romanians will be minted
What will the ratio be in the following years? It’s impossible to say, even getting data from 2024 was impossible, as the field is just THAT new, the general purpose robots of 2026 will undoubtedly be much more capable than those of 2025, and those of 2027 extremely better than those of 2026
I just think that this ratio is an interesting one to keep in mind
Who are the people doing this?
Why do they want to rid of the people?
Inherently, replacing human labour with machines (robots) is a Great Thing… unfortunately it isn’t being used to free up humans from needless work but to centralise wealth in the hands of the few which instead turns it into an existential crisis.
Society desperately needs to reign in the rich and limit wealth accumulation so that we can all benefit from automation.
I hope they buy all the products, because humans won’t be able to afford it.
A few decades? Damn, I thought it was sooner than that.
I’m frustrated at the lack of definition of “robot”.
Does it include assembly robots on a car manufacturing line?
Does it include the self driving car itself?
Does it include AI agents handling digital work?
Does it include a dishwashing machine?
Or does it only count humanoid robots which are honestly not nearly the best design for many specialized job roles?
We have the technology to create enough goods to feed, house and provide healthcare to everyone – and support common recreation like parks and entertainment- with less than 40 hrs per week of labor.
The part that is broken is the “system” is 100% based on commercializing everything.
What if we can’t/ will not buy anything a robot / Ai system/ whatever automated made or produced or provided? How is a robot or Ai system valued in this monetized world where tax is expected to be paid to uphold a normal functioning coherent society?
I guess the robots will buy their products as well…
This is going to happen way sooner than a couple decades
Good. Give us UBI so I can go on vacation and relax
The factory I work at plans to have the same production it does now in five years with four people per shift vs 16. Absolutely crazy. Politicians are nuts if they think manufacturing is gonna bring jobs back.