By Robert Dean
Carter County Times
If you’re reading this, first off, thanks for being literate in a world of smart phones. But secondly, we need to talk. I’ve been saying this forever, but I need you to understand that no matter how comfortable you are in your job, tech companies are looking to replace you.
I interviewed to be head writer with a company that, with a smartphone, can scan a whole warehouse and tell a user how it should be laid out down to the box. They said their software would make warehouses so efficient they could cut staff by a quarter — at least. I have also seen that robots are being built in China that can do human tasks with ease. The Chinese also have full car manufacturing plants that are fully automated — no people.
McDonalds, Chipotle, Popeyes, Panera Bread, and Arby’s have all invested in robotics and AI. If you work in marketing, you can throw a flyer together in moments. You can write a paper, and our kids are using it more. And if you’re used to spreadsheets, those days are about to be way over.
Bricklaying? Meet Walter. Roofing? Renovate Robotics. Plumbing? Pipebots. All these are real. Google any of these and you’ll find a company for each sector.
As a journalist, I can use Gemini, which is built into Word, to do my job for me. I can check my work with Grammarly. I can also use Claude or ChatGPT to check for weaknesses in the text. If I was a cartoonist, I could stick a drawing into any of the models, and it could tell me exactly what my weakness is as an artist. Like the person painting your ceiling, these are all things we trained for and worked hard to get good at.
I’m not anti-AI. I think it’s a useful tool. I love making stupid artwork of our inside jokes. And it’s fantastic when you need to figure out why the air conditioner broke in the middle of the night. But you need to understand that companies exist that are trying to take your job.
Profit motivates people. And before you say, “Not my boss,” people cost insurance, take time off, get sick, and want raises. Robots and AI are one-time investments. For the working class, you don’t have the option of being the one who pulls the purse strings.
You know what Google’s AI overview just told me? “78% of organizations reported using AI in 2024, up from 55% the year before.” And ChatGPT alone had 5.6 billion visits in November 2025.
We’re going to need to have real conversations about the implications of all this forward propulsion. What are useful tools today will soon be doing our jobs for us, and the people above aren’t making laws. The companies buying the tech aren’t sad they’ll be cutting workforce and making profit.
It may sound like socialist propaganda, but we’re going to need to consider Universal Basic Income. What are people going to do when there are no jobs? How are you going to pay the rent when there are fifty people trying to work in your local gas station? What is a guy who spent his years as a miner going to do when a robot can outperform him thanks to a computer that’s beyond what we can imagine?
As a matter of fact, according to the site Mining Technology, “Companies like Komatsu and Sandvik are developing autonomous mining systems — including remote-operated vehicles, automated haulage, and robotic drilling and loading equipment designed to run with minimal human presence underground and on surface sites.”
This isn’t a kick-the-can-down-the-road situation. It’s one that is becoming more real daily. Don’t believe me? We haven’t even had iPhones for 20 years, and look how much has changed in their wake. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
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