In April 2026 China hosted its annual Humanoid Robot Half-Marathon. One participant, a robot named Lightning, ran the 13.1 miles and broke the ‘human’ world record by almost seven minutes. What will you do when your labor or work is no longer needed? How long till you are replaced by technology? (We used AI to help write this article.) It might sound attractive, “I don’t need to work!?!”, attractive until we consider money and expenses.
We used to be appeased by the thought that only white-collar jobs were threatened by technological advances. We were safe in the trades; no need for a college degree. “People will always need plumbers, roofers, and electrician.” This is no longer the case. If robots are conducting brain or neurosurgery, and soft robots can now navigate our bloodstream to breakup clots or treat an aneurysm how long till your job is obsolete? Maybe we dismiss these advances, writing them off as someone else’s problem. (Maybe it is just the medical profession that will soon be obsolete.) Don’t forget that robots or computers can land a commercial plane, it is a system called Autoland.
Combine these advances in fine motor skills with rapid breakthroughs in gross motor skills (physical labor), and our tradespeople have a serious problem too. Robots have long been used on assembly lines to manufacture cars, but those were stationary, repetitive tasks plugged into a wall. Not anymore. Robots are now boxing, dancing, and doing backflips. Their ability to unload a truck, pick lettuce, re-shingle your roof, or get under your sink is no longer a matter of ‘if,’ but ‘when.’
What about the soft stuff, interpersonal skills, or things that require emotional intelligence or EQ? We will always need nurses and counselors, won’t we? Doesn’t look good for them either. Robots are already being used in facilities and private homes across Japan, South Korea, China, and Europe to care for the elderly. “Social robots” are used to combat loneliness, track behavior, and stimulate cognitive functions. If a significant number of adults are forming romantic or intimate bonds with virtual companions, it is clear that even jobs needing interpersonal skills are not safe.
Maybe ‘they’ will give us a Universal Basic Income (UBI). The concept of UBI proposes that every citizen or resident receives a payment, regardless of their economic or employment status. The amount is proposed to “meet a person’s fundamental living needs, ensuring a basic standard of living.” You might ask who pays for that? Does it come out of our taxes? We’ll have to consider that later. The idea of a UBI may have surface appeal. Perhaps we could live on a cruise ship or just kick back and procreate. But what if the money is not enough? Will there be an appeal process when we want or need a raise?
In our ongoing effort to establish what government is for, perhaps this is an area where “they” will place the good of the people above the profits of the few. About the only thing you can know for sure is that “Big Business” will not be looking out for our welfare. Their objective is to maximize profit until the end. Perhaps our elected officials will work to protect our future before it is too late. Unless of course they are bought off first.
