The coronavirus could mark the rise of automation

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The coronavirus pandemic has caused a massive surge in global unemployment. It has also highlighted the increasingly valuable role of automation in today's world.

Although there are some jobs machines just can't do, COVID-19 has left us wondering about the future of work and with this, the capacity of automation to step in where humans must step back.

Automation and jobs

Discussions about the "rise of the machines" first picked up significantly in 2013, after University of Oxford researchers published a paper about the potential to automate many jobs across sectors, including many so called office jobs such as administrative support workers, telemarketers and insurance claims clerks.

But does automation directly create unemployment? The answer is complicated.

Although some automation does replace human labor, other forms of it can help create new business, or help existing businesses prosper with benefits to employees.

It also depends on whether you measure employment globally, nationally or locally. Increasing automation for one country or region may be beneficial for jobs there, but damaging to jobs elsewhere.

Robots have already replaced people in many highly repetitive manufacturing tasks in developed economies, and will likely eventually replace similar labor in the rest of the world. But in the areas of niche and advanced manufacturing, such as in making art, the manufacture of components for the aerospace industry, or even customized and unique fashion garments, the use of robots will likely create jobs.

Pandemic drivers for automation

The automation of Australia's industries has been in the works for some time now. Australia is a world leader in adopting mining equipment automation – unsurprising given our reliance on mining exports.