FROM 2/20/26

Last year, The New York Times reported that Amazon’s ultimate goal was to automate, or use technology to perform tasks or processes with minimal human intervention, for 75% of their operations, which will replace more than 500,000 human jobs.

Elon Musk posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, sharing his opinion on robots taking over jobs:

“AI and robots will replace all jobs. Working will be optional, like growing your own vegetables, instead of buying from the store,” Elon Musk says. “Activities that require movement around warehouses and factories, or those sorts of things that can be made robotic, will be made robotic. I think they will be more robotic in many cases and therefore, will change the nature of those jobs. That’s going to be the first wave,” he concluded. 

Roles in manufacturing, data entry, customer service with standardized queries, and transportation- essentially, any job where the main functions can be easily coded and performed by machines or algorithms- are more likely to be influenced by automation.

Creative jobs are generally considered to be safe from automation, at least for now; tasks that require originality, complex problem solving, emotional intelligence, and nuanced understanding often fall outside the current abilities of AI and robots. People like artists, writers, designers, therapists, and strategists tend to rely on human qualities that are difficult to replicate technologically.

However, AI is getting better at some creative tasks. For example, AI can generate art, write articles, and even compose music. While it might not replace human creativity entirely, it could assist or even automate certain aspects of creative work.

Vallance, who previously served as the government’s chief scientific adviser, pointed to robotic surgery as an example of technology improving job performance: “Robotics is not replacing surgeons, it’s radically improving how those surgeons work and allowing things to be done with more precision.”

The government announced that the RIO (Regulatory Innovation Office) is making it easier for companies that work with defense technology and robotics. They are doing this by reducing or removing supposedly unnecessary rules and regulations, which is referred to as “slashing red tape.” The goal is to help these companies grow and innovate.