Technology is killing jobs, and only technology can save them

In the recent presidential election, automation and robotics got a slight reprieve from the accusations that it has been the key driver in job losses in the United States. During the campaign, the conversation shifted, thanks largely to then-candidate Trump's masterful scapegoating of Mexico and China, while calling out trade deals like NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership as clear and present threats to U.S. manufacturing. Indeed, the administration continues to downplay automation as a factor in the U.S. economy, because that explanation runs against the political policies it hopes to enact under the guise of improving the conditions of America's workforce. On Friday, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin dismissed the prospects of artificial intelligence and automation eroding the workforce. "I'm not worried at all" about robots displacing humans in the near future, he said, adding: "In fact I'm optimistic." But even as some politicians look to divert attention from the issue, public focus returned to the evils of automation. The New York Times ran a story titled "The Long-Term Jobs Killer Is Not China. It's Automation," while the Associated Press explained "Why robots, not trade, are behind so many factory job losses."