In an opinion piece in The Guardian, truck driver Finn Murphy warns drivers will soon be replaced by automation and that the rest of us are next.
Murphy argues that with tech giants investing billions into driverless vehicles, truck drivers will use their jobs, once the technology is perfected. Drivers are the last part of the supply chain that hasn’t been automated forklifts and robots already load and unload cargo at warehouses.
So what will happen to the three million drivers in the US alone, Murphy wonders -- people who are active in their communities, who just want to work and support their family. Who will take responsibility for societal costs when drivers are replaced by automation and lose their jobs?
Murphy argues that drivers are just the tip of the iceberg; automation is coming for the rest of us. He writes that we need to accept that both businesses and the government have the responsibility to help manage the human costs of technological disruption.