The Future Is Rosie?: Disempowering Arguments About Automation and What to Do About It

Many technologists who work in robotics and AI bristle at the idea that human worker displacement is problematic. Others wish to account for workers’ needs, but face pervasive myths about the impacts of these technologies. This paper aims to clear the air by refuting five common arguments for automation: 1) the jobs being automated are undesirable, 2) labor shortages necessitate automation, 3) by “augmenting rather than automating” labor displacement will be prevented, 4) there will be new and better job creation, and 5) automation will give us all more leisure time. The advent of foundational models has led to an industrial gold rush, accelerating deployment without careful consideration of responsible and sustaiable design and deployment of these technologies. Despite technologists’ best intentions, this path of pervasive automation we are on is not a good one, and we offer suggestions for how technologists, designers, and decision makers can push for worker-centered technological change moving forward.