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Name a paying skill that someone with the typical background of a taxi driver could learn, that isn't equally under threat of immediate robotsourcing.

dazc 9y ago
Most construction trades can be learned within a few years. You're not going to get a robot to fix your shower, for example, anytime soon. Here in the UK we have people who have become, kinda, qualified tradesmen in a few weeks. Some of them go on to be fairly proficient, others still get by when (atm) demand far outstrips supply.
- AstralStorm 9y ago
  The job pool will shrink though as the appliances start to report early maintenance issues. Thus the demand for skill intensive repairs will fall. Therefore the job will be less valued due to competition from almost unskilled labour driving wages down. The temporary lack only pertains too skilled technicians and nor people who can install and uninstall a ready made module.
  - dazc 9y ago
    I agree with your point, the trend to 'de-skill' a lot of trades is a real one. However, there's still plenty of old buildings around and, in the UK at least, a real shortage of people with the necessary skills to maintain them. In the context of the tread, a middle-aged taxi driver, looking at a future of redundancy, only has to worry about the next 15 years or so, not how things are going to play-out in the distant future. Maybe?
    - AstralStorm 9y ago
      Not really. They don't get an early pension. Switching to another unskilled trade will be ever harder and ever more competitive.
imgabe 9y ago
This is a pretty dim and insulting view of the capabilities of taxi drivers. Take London black cab drivers for example. They have to basically memorize every street in London and the best routes to get from anywhere to anywhere, depending on time of day, events, weather, etc. I'm certain anyone capable of doing that would be able to learn how to do a wide variety of well-paying jobs.

dazc 9y ago

Most construction trades can be learned within a few years. You're not going to get a robot to fix your shower, for example, anytime soon. Here in the UK we have people who have become, kinda, qualified tradesmen in a few weeks. Some of them go on to be fairly proficient, others still get by when (atm) demand far outstrips supply.

AstralStorm 9y ago
The job pool will shrink though as the appliances start to report early maintenance issues. Thus the demand for skill intensive repairs will fall. Therefore the job will be less valued due to competition from almost unskilled labour driving wages down. The temporary lack only pertains too skilled technicians and nor people who can install and uninstall a ready made module.
- dazc 9y ago
  I agree with your point, the trend to 'de-skill' a lot of trades is a real one. However, there's still plenty of old buildings around and, in the UK at least, a real shortage of people with the necessary skills to maintain them. In the context of the tread, a middle-aged taxi driver, looking at a future of redundancy, only has to worry about the next 15 years or so, not how things are going to play-out in the distant future. Maybe?
  - AstralStorm 9y ago
    Not really. They don't get an early pension. Switching to another unskilled trade will be ever harder and ever more competitive.

imgabe 9y ago

This is a pretty dim and insulting view of the capabilities of taxi drivers. Take London black cab drivers for example. They have to basically memorize every street in London and the best routes to get from anywhere to anywhere, depending on time of day, events, weather, etc. I'm certain anyone capable of doing that would be able to learn how to do a wide variety of well-paying jobs.