The robots are coming for your office

As the editor-in-chief of The Verge, I can theoretically assign whatever I want. However, there is one topic I have failed to get people at The Verge to write about for years: robotic process automation, or RPA. RPA isn't robots in factories, which is often what we think of when it comes to automation. This is different: RPA is software. Software that uses other software, like Excel or an Oracle database. On this week's Decoder, I finally found someone who wants to talk about it with me: New York Times tech columnist Kevin Roose. His new book, Futureproof: 9 Rules for Humans in the Age of Automation, has just come out, and it features a lengthy discussion of RPA, who's using it, who it will affect, and how to think about it as you design your career. What struck me during our conversation were the jobs that Kevin talks about as he describes the impact of automation: they're not factory workers and truck drivers. If you have the kind of job that involves sitting in front of a computer using the same software the same way every day, automation is coming for you. It won't be cool or innovative or even work all that well -- it'll just be cheaper, faster, and less likely to complain. That might sound like a downer, but Kevin's book is all about seeing that as an opportunity. You'll see what I mean. Okay, Kevin Roose, tech columnist, author, and the only reporter who has ever agreed to talk to me about RPAs. This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity. Kevin Roose, you're a tech columnist at The New York Times and you have a new book, Futureproof: 9 Rules for Humans in the Age of Automation, which is out now. Thank you for having me. You're ostensibly here to promote your book, which is great. But there's one piece of the book that I am absolutely fascinated by, which is this thing called "robotic process automation." And I'm gonna do my best with you on this show, today, to make that super interesting. But before we get there, let's talk about your book for a minute. What is your book about? Because I read it, and it has a big idea and then there's literally nine rules for regular people to survive. So, tell me how the book came together. So, the book is basically divided into two parts.