Recently, someone asked me, “With AI and robotics being so popular, what do you think?”
I browsed the news and saw various computing power, chip, and robotics companies with skyrocketing stock prices and significant capital investment expansion.
Then I came across a rather heartbreaking piece of news: the youth unemployment rate has reached 17.6%, and this is just the statistical figure; the actual number may be even higher.
I thought to myself, isn’t this a bit ironic?
On one hand, there is the celebration of the “future is here,” while on the other, the reality of “resumes sinking like stones.”
A friend asked me, “With technology developing so rapidly, shouldn’t the times be progressing? Why is it harder to find jobs instead?”
The reasoning is quite simple: every time a technological revolution occurs, the first group to be impacted is the young people.
This is because machines first replace jobs that are repetitive and have low entry barriers, which are precisely the jobs that young people start with.
In the past, when you graduated, you could work in customer service, operations, writing small copy, as a financial assistant, or sorting in a warehouse… all of which helped you accumulate experience.
Now, with the advent of AI and robotics, these jobs have been taken away, and the initial “steps” have been reduced; where can you climb from there?
Looking at middle-aged people, they are relatively stable.
They have already climbed to management or professional positions, have resources and connections, and machines cannot replace them in the short term.
Some people have a very low acceptance of new technologies, but this “low” has become a moat—traditional industries and slow tracks, where technology does not penetrate quickly.
Many young people feel hopeless, and I understand that.
But I must remind you, these are just the marks left by the wheels of the times.
When the steam engine first came out, craftsmen, weavers, and coachmen of the 18th and 19th centuries were all knocked down. There was even the “Luddite movement,” where people went to smash machines, claiming that machines took away their jobs.
But what happened a few years later?
Railway drivers, mechanical maintenance, factory management, and new business models all emerged.
Short-term turbulence, long-term prosperity—that is the law of technology.
The same goes for AI and robotics.
In the short term, it will indeed take away a large number of “repetitive labor” positions, especially the entry-level jobs for young people.
In the long term, it will also create a bunch of new jobs: AI trainers, AI product managers, prompt engineers, robot maintenance, data governance, and a host of new tracks in AI + healthcare/logistics/education…
However, these jobs have higher entry barriers, require cross-disciplinary skills, and demand creativity and integration.
So, young people, don’t just think about “my job being taken away”; you first need to learn to “use machines as weapons”; otherwise, you will become a victim of the times.
If you can use AI, you will save half the time and half the cost compared to others.
If you can cross disciplines, you will have an additional track compared to others.
If you have a personal brand or IP, machines cannot replace “trust” and “relationships.”
I consider myself an old internet person; I have worked in mobile, live streaming, and have experienced losses and setbacks.
I genuinely believe that the first people to be knocked down by each technological revolution are often the ones who can easily jump onto the new ship because they are young, have time, learning ability, and room for trial and error.
Don’t fear new technologies; what machines eliminate are repetitive tasks, leaving behind creativity, integration, and trust.
These are precisely the high grounds that young people can seize.