In the Johnny Depp movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie Bucket’s father works in a toothpaste factory but is quickly replaced by robots that can do his job—screwing toothpaste caps onto tubes of toothpaste—at a fraction of the speed. Spoiler alert: At the end of the movie, Bucket’s father lands a job repairing the robots that had replaced him.
What does any of this have to do with the world of work? The above scenario is a gentle reminder that even though it may seem like robots and artificial intelligence (AI) are out to steal our jobs, there will always be a need for humans in the future of work.
