At Tesla’s Gigafactory in Shanghai, it takes only 38 seconds to produce a Model 3.
Scary, right?
In the age of AI and robots, survival of the fittest: what should ordinary people do?
Nowadays, if you don’t mention AI or robots in a conversation, you are considered outdated.
There are countless examples of traditional industries using AI and robots due to competitive and cost pressures, leading to layoffs and job losses.
Twenty years ago, a labor-intensive machinery manufacturing factory with an annual output value of around 600 million yuan employed no less than 1,500 people. Despite working overtime, they still faced issues with timely deliveries.
After many developments, this factory has automated all its production lines and introduced a large number of robots (equipment). The factory space remains unchanged, but the output value has increased, and the number of employees has been reduced to about 600, resulting in more timely deliveries and higher profit levels. The reduction in workforce alone saves over 10 million yuan in social security costs each year.
It is understood that the eliminated positions are all on the assembly line, which are the jobs that ordinary people rely on for their livelihoods.
In this major trend, the power of ordinary individuals is truly minimal.
For ordinary people to avoid being eliminated, the only options may be: either follow the trend, learn new knowledge, embrace the changes, and ride the wave; or change careers early…
Or perhaps, just give up!
Lay flat!?
Unless you have a wealthy family or a substantial inheritance to rely on, or something else…
Congratulations to those people; they are fortunate and do not have to face this life dilemma.
The rest of us, who can only rely on ourselves to support our families,
should understand our strengths and weaknesses, set our own positions, and think about what we are suited to do in the age of AI and robots. Lifelong learning and putting in the effort that Kazuo Inamori speaks of: “effort that is not inferior to anyone else’s” will make it difficult for you to be eliminated.
I hope to become the kind of person I just described, able to walk alongside the trend, riding the winds and breaking the waves, and sail smoothly across the seas.
We ordinary people can still find our place by understanding ourselves and leveraging our strengths, whether in the steam age, the electrification era, the internet age, or the age of AI and robots.
This article was written in one go during the launch event of an AI education app, where a so-called prestigious school graduate teacher was passionately talking, selling anxiety, and brainwashing.
Let’s encourage each other!
Previous articles:
Zong Qinghou, the billionaire of cloth shoes, said to Shi Yongxin: My ending is much better than yours!
The People’s Daily: “May you have stubbornness in your bones, strength in your beliefs, and height in your soul. Since you have nothing, why not take a gamble?”
The People’s Daily: “When looking for problems, if you look within yourself, you will find clarity; if you look at others, you will go crazy.”