Who's afraid of the big bad robot?

Relax: A wicked automaton isn't coming for your job

This old-timey robot is cleaning a car, replacing the simple workers of yesterday.
(Image credit: Central Press/Getty Images)

Beware the Bogeybot. This nefarious (and cheap!) automaton comes for the jobs of all the naughty workers who never bothered to learn a new skill.

It's also a complete fairy tale. For years, economic analysts and businesspeople have warned that workers just weren't learning the skills necessary to keep up with automation. And the moment robots became cheap replacements, the unskilled would be out on the street. But now that the American economy has clawed its way back to some semblance of health, this story is being revealed as essentially fiction.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Jeff Spross

Jeff Spross was the economics and business correspondent at TheWeek.com. He was previously a reporter at ThinkProgress.