Those jobs that both humans and robots can do will be ceded soon enough to the machines, which is good in the long term but worrisome right now for employment. New fields will be created in a post-manufacturing society, but when will they arrive? Regardless, it seems we have no choice but to explore this brave new world. It’s as compelling as Manifest Destiny or the Space Race. It seems evolutionary in an almost biological sense. From a Bloomberg report about Google and robots:

“Google Inc. Chairman Eric Schmidt said his company is experimenting with automation in ways that will ‘replace a lot of the repetitive behavior in our lives.’ 

‘We’re experimenting with what automation will lead to,’ Schmidt said yesterday at a conference in Santa Monica, California. ‘Robots will become omnipresent in our lives in a good way.’

Google is pushing ahead with products beyond its core search business for new sources of user traffic and revenue in areas such as mobile and online video. The company also has shown a willingness to make bets on longer-term projects, such as wearable technology, robotics and driverless cars.

‘The biggest thing will be artificial intelligence,’ Schmidt said at Oasis: The Montgomery Summit. ‘Technology is evolving from asking a question to making a relevant recommendation. It will figure out things you care about and make recommendations. That’s possible with today’s technology.”