I ran across this article on whether a job in data science is safe from automation. In that article, the author uses a test from a book called The Fourth Age: Smart Robots, Conscious Computers, and the Future of Humanity that I super want to read, but the test goes like this.
If your job scores less than 70 out of 100, it is unlikely to be automated. My office job is similar to that of a data scientist, but I figured I'd take the test for my horse training job and we'll see if we're going to be getting any robot horse trainers stealing my second job any time soon.
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| At least my horse job pays for my horse? That is, until it is automated. |
How similar are two days at your job? (0: not at all, 10: very similar)
2/10: I would say that a lot of my job is similar in that it's predictable for me to go to the barn, sit in the same place, and say words to my students, but the lessons are all different. I can't plan in advance what I need to say or what I need to do. I might have to hop on a horse, set up a cavelletti exercise, draw something in the sand, look up a dressage test online.
How often do you have to move physical locations at your job? (0: never, 10: at all times)
8/10: for me personally, I move a lot. I teach at several different barns in the same areas. I'd also count getting on the horses as moving, right?
How many people know of or do your job? (0: almost none, 10: many)
3/10: I don't know how to answer this. Out of everyone in the US, almost none do my job, right? But I'm sure people are aware that horse trainers exist. When I meet non-horse people, they are not surprised that I'm a horse trainer as much as they are surprised that I ride horses.
How long is the training for your job? (0: years, 10: days)
0/10: I'm still learning after teaching for nearly 20 years.
Does your job require repetitive physical actions? (0: not at all, 10: completely)
6/10: many of my actions are repetitive in a way, but not as repetitive as, say, someone pressing the same key over and over again. Still, I get on the horse, I engage the same muscles, I sit in the same way. When I teach I'm usually sitting down, talking, gesturing. All of it is fairly repetitive IMO.
What is the longest time you need to make a decision (0: more than 5 minutes, 10: a few seconds)
5/10: as someone who has done this for a long time, I don't spend tons of time pouring over options to make a decision. Most of the time I just make it and see what happens, you win some, you lose some. That being said, a lot of the time I end up having to correct a decision I made previously. As a trainer you make a lot of decisions.
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| My next business endeavor |
0/10: yes, I do have to talk to people to instruct them, talk to people to schedule, talk to people about how their horses are going.
Is creativity required at your job? (0: entire basis of job, 10: creativity actively discouraged)
3/10: I think this depends on the trainer, because some trainers do just slot all horses into the same program. As someone who is currently riding tricky horses and instructing several people on sensitive mares, I feel like I have to be relatively creative. Plus, riders don't want to take the same lesson 900 times.
Do you directly manage employees? (0: many, 10: none)
10/10: It's just me!
Would someone else do your job in the same way? (0: not at all, 10: exactly the same)
1/10: I do think that there are other trainers that would make very very similar decisions, but they are few and far between. I don't think anyone would do my job the exact same.
Total Score: 38 / 100
Without reading the book, I can't tell how this compares to other industries, but I think it's safe to say that at least one of my jobs is safe from automation!
But really, bring on the automation! Let's just set ourselves up properly for it first.
I was just thinking about this the other day that rider and horse training isn't likely to be automated but then I thought about those machines that work racehorses and thought well... humans might find a way.
ReplyDeleteWe'll all die first from being too hot I think.
Eventually robots will replace us all! But I think you're safe until robot horses replace regular horses.
ReplyDeleteSuper interesting! Also nice to know my job is unlikely to be automated
ReplyDeleteVery interesting. I just did the number for my job (conservation biologist) on a whim & even being generous, it scores an 18 (not repetitive, have to think about things for sometimes literal years, there's not very many of us, must be creative). So much for my hopes of a robot helper someday, sigh.
ReplyDeleteHahaha - 32. Can't replace me with a pesky robot. Although with the amount of time + energy + anxiety I've put into training my new 20-something surfer-boy assistant this summer...
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