If you’ve been watching the HBO series “Westworld,” chances are you’re feeling uncomfortable about the automation shift and a technological revolution which will see rapid advances in a range of fields including artificial intelligence, 3-D printing, robotics and genetics, to name a few.
These leaps will have huge political and social implications for the global job market and developing countries whose economies are currently reliant on manual labor will be hit hardest. According to World Bank research the proportion of jobs threatened by automation could be as high as 85 percent in Ethiopia, 69 percent in India, and 77 percent in China.
However, automation, and other technological advances, could also offer developing countries the chance to “leapfrog” their Western counterparts in embracing the skills and capabilities that will be needed to thrive in the new job market.
About the author
Sophie Edwards
Sophie Edwards is a Devex Contributing Reporter covering global education, water and sanitation, and innovative financing, along with other topics. She has previously worked for NGOs, and the World Bank, and spent a number of years as a journalist for a regional newspaper in the U.K. She has a master's degree from the Institute of Development Studies and a bachelor's from Cambridge University.
