From the U.S. Government Accountability Office, www.gao.gov

Transcript for: Preparing for Robot Coworkers and AI

Description: This podcast talks about federal agencies’ interest in 
tracking the effects of advanced technologies to the working 
population. 

Related GAO Work: GAO-19-257: Workforce Automation: Better Data Needed 
to Assess and Plan for Effects of Advanced Technologies on Jobs

Released: April 2019


[ Background Music ]

[ Cindy Brown Barnes ] The workforce landscape is continuing to change 
as advanced technologies are developed, and then deployed by companies.

[ Matt Oldham: ] Welcome to GAO's Watchdog Report, your source for news 
and information from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. I'm 
Matt Oldham. Robotic machines have existed for decades, and it's a safe 
bet their use will grow as companies look for ways to expand their 
roles, not just in what tasks they can perform, but also through 
advanced technologies, like, learning capabilities. I'm with Cindy 
Brown Barnes, an Education Workforce and Income Security director at 
GAO, and she led a report looking at how federal agencies are 
predicting and planning for changes in the workforce coming from these 
advanced technologies. Thank you for joining me, Cindy.

[ Cindy Brown Barnes ] Thank you.

[ Matt Oldham ] Are we seeing more immediate changes in the workforce 
coming from advances in automation?

[ Cindy Brown Barnes ] Today's technology innovations are impacting the 
workforce in striking ways. For example, machine vision, and other 
artificial intelligence technologies are being incorporated into 
vehicles, in robots, self-driving vehicles, and warehouses, and 
hospitals can transport products autonomously. And collaborative robots 
can work next to humans on a production line. But as a result workers 
who previously perform these tasks may be replaced by the technologies 
or redeploy to perform other work tasks that could require the same or 
different skill.

[ Matt Oldham ] So I imagine it could be difficult to forecast the 
future for technology, like, robotics or artificial intelligence. Did 
you get the sense that federal agencies have gotten a good start?

[ Cindy Brown Barnes ] Federal agencies are aware of the significant 
role advanced technologies will continue to play in the economy and the 
workforce. There's not much data available about the extent of the 
workforce effects. Some federal agencies have started to try to fill 
this information gap. For example, the Census Bureau, in collaboration 
with the National Science Foundation, they have a new study called the 
Annual Business Survey that has the potential to provide some insight 
on the spread of advanced technologies in the economy, and could be 
used to examine the workforce effects. And they're other efforts to 
collect information about workforce effects of advanced technologies, 
but they're more limited. For example, the Bureau of Labor Statistics 
that the Department of Labor collects valuable data on workforce trends 
through various surveys. However, these data again are limited, and 
they don't have all of the information that's needed to assess the 
impact of automation on the workforce.

[ Background Music ]

[ Matt Oldham ] So it sounds like the Census Bureau, and The Department 
of Labor are two federal agencies that have the most interest in 
tracking the effects of broader applications of advanced technologies 
to the working population. Cindy, why is the federal government 
concerned with the question of how this technology could affect the 
workplace?

[ Cindy Brown Barnes ] The federal government is concerned because 
advanced technologies have the potential to change the workforce in 
significant ways. This technology adoption will lead to increases, and 
or it could in certain circumstances lead to increases in different 
types of jobs, and in other cases could lead to workforce reductions, 
either over time or immediately. Regardless of the changes in the 
workforce, size or workers roles, and responsibilities are likely to 
change as advanced technologies take over tasks that workers previously 
performed. To an extent that these changes are concentrated in certain 
occupations, certain groups of workers, such as those with lower 
education levels may be disproportionately affected. That's the federal 
workforce programs will need to be aligned or more aligned to deal with 
the changing economy, and impact of automation.

[ Matt Oldham ] So did your team have any recommendations?

[ Cindy Brown Barnes ] Yes. We recommended that the Department of Labor 
develop ways to use existing or new data collection efforts to 
identify, and systematically track the workforce effects of advanced 
technologies.

[ Matt Oldham ] Before we get to the traditional last question of our 
podcasts, I recommend you, the listener, go to gao.gov, search 
GAO-19-257, and you can see an example of the type of technology that 
Cindy and I are discussing. You'll see a machine or robotic machine, 
and it has a face. You know, sometimes these concepts may be a little 
difficult to visualize, was a very good example in the report of 
exactly what we're talking about. Okay, Cindy, getting back on track, 
what do you believe is the bottom line of this report?

[ Cindy Brown Barnes ] The workforce landscape is continuing to change 
as advanced technologies are developed, and then deployed by companies. 
But without data that can measure the magnitude, and variety of these 
changes the overall work force effects will remain unclear.

[ Matt Oldham ] Cindy Brown Barnes led a GAO report on the role federal 
agencies are playing to predict, and track workforce issues related to 
the adoption of advanced technologies. Thank you for your time, Cindy.

[ Cindy Brown Barnes ] Thank you.

[ Background Music ]

[ Matt Oldham: ] And thank you for listening to the Watchdog Report. To 
hear more podcasts, subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts.

[ Background Music ]

[ Matt Oldham: ] For more from the congressional watchdog, the U.S. 
Government Accountability Office, visit us at gao.gov.