Online Class Notes (Mike)

Do you think AI will replace all human jobs eventually? Why or why not?

Vocabulary

register (v) 挂号，登记，注册
You are advised to register your family with a doctor as soon as possible

bank teller (n) 出纳员

ATM: automatic teller machine

counter (n) 柜台

totally = completely

security check：安全检查
security guard: 保安

scan (v) 扫描
You can scan our QR Code to order food

QR code: quick response

delivery (v) 传，送

repetitive (adj.) 重复性的
The work is dull and repetitive

dull (adj.) 单调的，乏味的
The story is dull.
Math classes are very dull

cook (n) 厨师
cooker (n) 厨具

navigate (v) 导航 – navigation – navigator (n) 导航仪，导航员
I’ll drive, and you can navigate.
I’ll drive, you take the map and navigate.
How do you navigate your way through a forest?
radar navigation 

creative (adj.) 有创意的
My friend is a very creative musician

inspire (v) 启发…灵感  = inspiration (n) 灵感
This painting was inspired by Mona Lisa.
I cannot write without inspiration.

time flies = time went by fast

go to hospital
go to the hospital

I will be very old when AI totally/completely replaces humans

What do all these jobs have in common?

We scan to order food

when you live in hotel
When you stay at/in a hotel

In many parts of the U.S., robots have been replacing workers over the last few decades. But to what extent, really? Some technologists have forecast that automation will lead to a future without work, while other observers have been more skeptical about such scenarios.

Now a study co-authored by an MIT professor puts firm numbers on the trend, finding a very real impact — although one that falls well short of a robot takeover. The study also finds that in the U.S., the impact of robots varies widely by industry and region, and may play a notable role in exacerbating income inequality.

“We find fairly major negative employment effects,” MIT economist Daron Acemoglu says, although he notes that the impact of the trend can be overstated.

From 1990 to 2007, the study shows, adding one additional robot per 1,000 workers reduced the national employment-to-population ratio by about 0.2 percent, with some areas of the U.S. affected far more than others.

This means each additional robot added in manufacturing replaced about 3.3 workers nationally, on average.

That increased use of robots in the workplace also lowered wages by roughly 0.4 percent during the same time period.

“We find negative wage effects, that workers are losing in terms of real wages in more affected areas, because robots are pretty good at competing against them,” Acemoglu says.