Richard Baldwin: The Globotics Upheaval: Globalisation, Robotics, and the Future of Wor.k

Abstract

At the root of inequality, unemployment, and populism are radical changesin the world economy. Digital technology is allowing talented foreigners totelecommute into our workplaces and compete for service and professionaljobs. Instant machine translation is melting language barriers, so the ranksof these "tele-migrants" will soon include almost every educated person inthe world. Computing power is dissolving humans' monopoly on thinking,enabling AI-trained computers to compete for many of the same white-collar jobs. The combination of globalization and robotics is creating theglobotics upheaval, and it threatens the very foundations of the liberalwelfare-state.Richard Baldwin, one of the world's leading globalization experts, arguesthat the inhuman speed of this transformation threatens to overwhelm ourcapacity to adapt. From computers in the office to automatic orderingsystems in restaurants, we are familiar with the how digital technologiesoffer convenience while also eliminating jobs. Globotics will disrupt the livesof millions of white-collar workers much faster than automation,industrialization, and globalization disrupted the lives of factory workers inprevious centuries. The result will be a backlash. Professional, white-collar,and service workers will agitate for a slowing of the unprecedented pace ofdisruption, as factory workers have done in years past.Baldwin argues that the globotics upheaval will be countered in the shortrun by "shelter-ism" - government policies that shelter some service jobsfrom tele-migrants and thinking computers. In the long run, people willwork in more human jobs-activities that require real people to use theuniquely human ability of independent thought-and this will strengthenbonds in local communities. Offering effective strategies such as focusingon the social value of work, The Globotics Upheaval will help people preparefor the oncoming wave of an advanced robotic workforce.