Dirty Jobs’ Mike Rowe: Blue-collar workers are safe from AI

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Mike Rowe thinks “dirty” jobs are safe from the rise of artificial intelligence, as people begin to fear that the latest technological advances will replace human workers.

The “Dirty Jobs” and “How America Works” host said there’s no escaping the growth of AI in the workplace during an appearance on “The big money showHowever, he said, blue-collar workers can afford to rely on skill sets that are difficult to replicate digitally.

“People used to say that robots are going to destroy skilled labor. Well, not really,” he said at the time. “I haven’t seen any plumbing robots. I haven’t seen any electrical robots. And I don’t think we’re going to see any artificial intelligence in the skilled trades to that degree. You can’t stop it. All you can do is decide to go completely crazy or not “.

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Rowe’s sentiments echo the findings of a March Goldman Sachs Report, which predicts that 300 million jobs worldwide are at risk of being replaced by automation. The report found that white-collar workers are at the highest risk of being replaced by digital resources, but jobs that require manual labor and outdoor tasks will feel “little effect” by the growth of AI in those industries.

“I’ve heard for years that robots are going to ruin blue-collar work. It turns out that AI is coming for your white-collar work,” Rowe said during a separate appearance on “US newsroom.”

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Rowe started the mikeroweWORKS Foundation to advocate for skilled workers and break the stigma around skilled workers in 2008 and has since donated $5 million through its Work Ethics Scholarship Program that trains people for in-demand skilled jobs.

“My foundation has trained nearly 1,700 people in skilled trades. A lot of them are welders, a lot of those welders make well over six figures. Nobody believes it. Nobody talks about it because the stigmas are so clear that, oh, my boy ends up being a welder, it’s because he or she couldn’t cut it here. That’s silly,” he said on the show.

“For people who master a skill that’s in demand and look at their trajectory, they’ll find they land on something that looks a lot like prosperity,” he added.