Advances in automation and robotics are putting a lot of jobs at risk. Here are ten jobs first in line for the robot takeover.
自动化和机器人技术的进步使许多工作面临被取代的风险,下面的10种岗位是最危险的。
 
The job market is a battlefield, and it's about to get a lot worse. In addition to competing against other skilled job-seekers for work, you'll soon be pitted against robots as well.
就业市场是战场,未来的竞争将会更为激烈。除了与其他有技能的求职者竞争工作之外,你很快也会被机器人打败。
 
Robots have been working alongside human employees in industries such as manufacturing for a long time, helping accomplish tasks quicker or more efficiently. But, as the fields of cognitive computing and artificial intelligence continue to grow, we will see many more industries -- from the food industry to customer service -- affected by automation.
机器人已经在制造业等行业与人类雇员一起工作了很长一段时间,有助于更快或更高效地完成任务。但是,随着认知计算和人工智能领域的不断发展,我们将看到更多的行业——从食品行业到客户服务——受到自动化的影响。
 
Here are 10 jobs that will be at the top of the list.
以下是最容易被机器人取代的10种职业。
 
1. ASSEMBLY LINE WORKER流水线工人
The conversation about automation upending the manufacturing industry has been happening for decades, and it still hasn't come to fruition. Tech, factories, and jobs have had a tricky relationship since the Industrial Revolution. Robotic technology has been used in manufacturing for decades -- especially at major operations like Ford and Toyota -- and the technology continues to advance. But there are still some hurdles in regards to fine motor skills and decision making that need to be overcome before the robots will be able to work on their own in manufacturing. Even the best robots still require humans to closely observe and orchestrate their work.
几十年前就有言论称自动化将会取代制造业,但这一言论至今还未成现实。自工业革命以来,科技、工厂和工作之间的关系一直很微妙。几十年来,机器人技术一直被用于制造业,尤其是在福特和丰田等大型企业,而且这种技术还在继续发展。但是,在机器人能够在制造领域独立工作之前,还需要克服一些障碍。即使是最好的机器人,也需要人类仔细观察和编排它们的工作。
 
2. FIELD TECHNICIAN 实地考察人员
Many jobs require an employee in the field to physically visit a work site or piece of machinery and check on the operations. New advances in the Internet of Things could render this work obsolete.
许多工作要求员工去实地考察工作地点或机器,并检查操作流程。物联网的新发展可能会取代这份工作。
 
Low-cost sensors combined with high availability cellular/satellite communications and cloud technology are being implemented to automate and alarm these sites, and can be checked and maintained from a desktop or mobile device.
低成本的传感器结合可用性高的蜂窝/卫星通信和云技术正在实现站点自动化、安装警报系统,并且可以通过桌面或移动设备进行检查和维护。
 
3. CALL CENTER WORKER 电话服务中心从业者
At this point, most people are familiar with automated customer service lines and telemarketing. Using natural-language processing, automated call lines are able to better understand what customers are saying and direct them to the proper resource. There's usually still an option to be routed to a 'real person', but even that could be eliminated in the next few years.
在这一点上,大多数人都熟悉自动化的客户服务电话和电话营销。使用自然语言处理、自动接听电话线能够更好地理解客户所说的内容,并正确引导客户。通常还有一个选项可以选择 “真人”接听,但这个岗位在未来几年内也会被淘汰。
 
Additionally, automation could lead to fewer calls to helplines in general, at least on the customer service side of things. Smart systems, remotely monitored by sensors, could help with product maintenance and ward off potential problems.
此外,自动化可能会导致对求助热线的电话减少,至少在客户服务方面是如此。智能系统由传感器远程监控,可以帮助进行产品维护和防止潜在问题的出现。
 
4. SORTER 分类人员
Sorting takes a trained eye and sorters typically work in a factory, pulling damaged or imperfect products from a batch as it moves along a conveyor belt. Automated inspection technology is growing to match the human output for this job.
分类需要经过训练的眼睛和分类人员,通常是在工厂里从传送带中取出受损或不完美的产品。自动化检测技术不断发展,与人类的产出相匹配。
 
Right now it's common for people to be manually sorting and inspecting every single item -- a seat belt bolt, for example. Vision inspection cameras used to cost $30,000, now they cost $1000, and vision inspection systems are fast, efficient and highly accurate.
现在,人们通常会对每一件物品进行手工分类和检查——例如,安全带螺栓。视觉检查相机曾经的花费高达3万美元,现在只需1000美元,视觉检查系统快速、高效、高度准确。
 
5. DATA ENTRY 数据输入
Data is moving to the forefront of important assets in almost every industry. Because of this, accurate data input is essential. Changes in the way data is collected and processed could lead to faster and more fully automated data entry.
在几乎所有行业里,数据都走在重要资产的前列。因此,准确的数据输入是必不可少的。收集和处理数据方式的变化会使得自动数据输入更快更全面。
 
For example, data from a driver's time on the road and time on the site could be captured by an on-board sensor, combined with GPS data, and automatically fed into the backend system. That data could then be automatically compared against daily goals and plans, and processed on behalf of that driver. The data entry is more efficient and happens faster as a result.
例如,司机在路上和地点上的数据可以被机载传感器捕获,并与GPS数据结合,并自动送入后端系统。然后,这些数据可以自动与日常目标和计划进行比较,并代表该驱动程序进行处理。这样一来,数据输入的效率更高,取得结果的速度也更快。
 
While lots of data -- especially historical data -- still needs to be digitized, and there will be work available to scan much of this data in the short term, the long-term need for data entry will be reduced.
但是还有许多数据——尤其是历史数据——仍然需要人工数字化,短期内还会有大量数据需要扫描,因此对人工数据输入工作人员的需求将会慢慢减少。
 
6. INSURANCE UNDERWRITER 保险从业者
Whenever you apply for insurance through a broker or agent, your application has to be vetted to determine if the risk is worth accepting for the insurance company. The work is performed by underwriters. They review the application and decide whether or not they'll provide insurance, and how much they'll offer.
当你通过经纪人或代理人申请保险时,你的申请必须经过审查,以确定风险是否值得保险公司接受。这项工作由承保人执行。他们审查你的申请并决定是否提供保险,以及将提供的保险数额。
 
The role of insurance underwriter is at risk for automation because applications can be standardized and most organizations have set rules by which they determine eligibility. Machine learning can help computer systems learn these rules and apply them to the applications they receive.
保险承保人面临着被自动化取代的风险,因为应用程序可以标准化,而且大多数公司都制定了确定资格的规则。机器学习可以帮助计算机系统学习这些规则,并将它们应用到申请审查中。
 
7. TAX PREPARER 报税员
Many people know the feeling of sitting across from a tax preparer as you try to figure out how much money you owe, or what you'll be getting back when taxes are due.
许多人都雇佣了报税员,他们帮你弄清楚你欠了多少钱或者你会在缴税时得到什么。
 
But, what if you simply fed your W-2 into an ATM-like machine, answered a few questions, and it automatically filed your taxes for you? Aside from a few overly complicated tax code issues, most workers will be likely be able to file their taxes without the assistance of another human. Tax forms are standardized and machines will be able to read the info and ask you a few questions to process your paperwork. We've seen this happening with software like TurboTax for years.
但是,如果你只是简单地把你的W-2放进一个类似自动取款机的机器里,回答几个问题,它就会自动为你归档税收报表,你还会选择人工报税员吗?除了一些过于复杂的税法问题之外,大多数人在没有其他人帮助的情况下,很有可能会自己提交税收。税务表格是标准化的,机器将能够阅读信息,并问你几个问题来处理你的文书工作。比如,近年来已经出现了像TurboTax这样的软件。
 
Of course, the tax code is complicated and where there are problems, ambiguities, and irregularities, there will still be the need for human beings with deep knowledge who can do far more than just fill out the right forms.
当然,税法是复杂的,有问题、含糊不清和不规范的地方,仍然需要有深入知识的人,他们能做的远远不止填好正确的表格。
 
8. SALES REPRESENTATIVE 销售代表
Intuition says that making a sale requires a human touch. But, e-commerce is changing how we make purchasing decisions, especially those where there isn't much differentiation among the major competitors.
直觉告诉我们,做销售需要人与人的交流。但是,电子商务正在改变我们的购买决定,特别是那些在主要竞争对手之间没有太多差别的领域。
 
"If you're selling a high-differentiation product and/or a high-price, low-volume product you have some job security, but if you're selling a high-volume, low-differentiation product, you better start polishing your resume," said Doug Camplejohn, CEO of Fliptop. "These kind of product sales are all moving online."
Fliptop的首席执行官Doug Camplejohn说:“如果你正在销售特殊产品或高价格、低产量的产品,人工智能对你的威胁并不大,但如果你销售的是一种高产出的普通产品,你最好开始润色你的简历。”“这些产品的销售都可以在网上进行。
9. TRANSLATOR 翻译
Image recognition software and voice recognition software are bringing some major advances to language translation. Applications like Google's Word Lens can translate words from signs and documents in real time and there are a plethora of translation apps that allow you to type in a word or phrase and will translate it for you. Some will even speak the phrase for you. Granted, there are still cultural cues this technology misses, but raw word-to-word translation will be fully automated soon.
图像识别软件和语音识别软件为语言翻译带来了一些重要的进展。像谷歌的Word Lens这样的应用程序可以实时地从标志和文档中翻译单词,还有大量的翻译应用程序可以根据输入的一个单词或短语提供翻译服务。有的程序还可以读出单词和短语。当然,这种技术仍然存在一些文化上的理解困难,但是原始的逐字翻译将很快被自动化完全取代。
 
So, if you're not translating high-dollar business negotiations or matters of national security, then you may find that algorithms will be good enough to handle most other translation duties.
因此,如果你所从事的并非高薪的商务谈判或国家安全问题翻译工作,那么你的工作就会被性能优良的工具取代。
 
10. FAST FOOD EMPLOYEE 快餐店服务人员
Automated ordering kiosks have already made their way into a few McDonald's restaurants around the world, and cooking positions could be eliminated next. The kiosks probably can't handle customer service issues well, but televideo systems could bring in an office employee to facilitate complaints.
世界各地的一些麦当劳餐厅已经启用了自动订购系统,接下来可能会研发自动烹饪机器。自助服务系统可能不能很好地处理客服问题,但是可视系统可以让办公室职员来处理投诉。
 
Automation will affect parts of casual dining restaurants as well, as tableside tablet ordering systems have already arrived at restaurants like Chili's and others.
自动化也会影响到休闲餐厅,因为桌面平板电脑订购系统已经占领了Chili's等餐厅。