Future fears

In big-city Texas, Dallas-Fort Worth workers face greatest job threat from robots

Engineer overseeing automated production

Machines substitute for tasks, not jobs.

Photo by vm/Getty Images

Among the four major metro areas in Texas, robotic labor poses the biggest danger to workers in Dallas-Fort Worth, according to a new study from the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program.

The study finds that 46.5 percent of workplace tasks are susceptible to automation among all occupations in DFW. Authors of the study are quick to point out that this doesn’t mean human workers will be entirely replaced by robots. Rather, they say, it means at least some of the humans’ tasks could be automated.

“While this report concludes that the future may not be as dystopian as the most dire voices claim, plenty of people and places will be affected by automation, and much will need to be done to mitigate the coming disruptions,” the authors write.

Overall, DFW ranks 29th among the country’s 100 biggest metro areas for potential disruption by automation. Across the country, jobs that could encounter the most interference from automation include food preparation worker, payroll clerk, and commuter network support specialist, according to the report.

“Machines substitute for tasks, not jobs. A job is a collection of tasks,” the report says. “Some of those tasks are best done by humans, others by machines. Even under the most aggressive scenarios of technological advancement, it is unlikely that machines will be able to substitute for all tasks in any one occupation.”

Elsewhere in Texas:

Houston ranks 31st among the country’s 100 biggest metros, with 46.3 percent of work tasks susceptible to automation.
San Antonio ranks 41st among the country’s 100 biggest metros, with 46 percent of work tasks susceptible to automation.
Austin ranks 78th among the country’s 100 biggest metros, with 44.3 percent of work tasks susceptible to automation.

According to CityLab, the Brookings report shows places where energy jobs are prevalent, such as Houston, will get through the automation period “relatively unscathed,” as will college towns and state capitals like Austin.

Authors of the report maintain that automation complements human labor.

“Generally, whatever workplace activity isn’t taken over by automation is complemented by it — making each remaining human task more valuable. This makes labor more valuable, and the increased productivity generally … translates into higher wages,” the report says.

The report indicates that among the 100 largest U.S. metros, Toledo, Ohio, confronts the most potential automation in the workplace (49 percent share of job tasks), while Washington, D.C., faces the least potential automation (39.8 percent share of job tasks).

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THE FUTURE IS NOW

Self-driving Waymo robotaxis can now be hailed in Dallas

Waymo/ FacebookWa

Waymo is now offering driverless rides to San Antonians.

Waymo will begin dispatching its robotaxis in Dallas and four more cities in Texas and Florida, expanding the territory covered by its fleet of self-driving cars to 10 major U.S. metropolitan markets.

The move into Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Orlando, Florida, announced Tuesday, February 24, widens Waymo's early lead in autonomous driving while rival services from Tesla and the Amazon-owned Zoox are still testing their vehicles in only a few U.S. cities.

In contrast, Waymo's robotaxis already provide more than 400,000 weekly trips in the six metropolitan areas where they have been transporting passengers: Phoenix, the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Miami, Atlanta, and Austin.

Waymo operates its ride-hailing service through its own app in all the U.S. cities except Atlanta and Austin, where its robotaxis can only be summoned through Uber's ride-hailing service.

In Dallas, they'll partner with Avis, according to a release — offering their ride-hailing service through the Waymo app, with a fleet managed through a new multi-year partnership with Avis Budget Group, whose expertise will help Waymo scale the Waymo Driver even faster.

Avis will provide end-to-end fleet management services, including infrastructure, vehicle readiness, maintenance, and general depot operations.

Dallas' downtown metro area is considered well suited for Waymo's 24/7 autonomous ride-hailing service. They also aim to improve road safety and partner with the city of Dallas on its "Vision Zero" plan to eliminate all traffic-related deaths and reduce severe injury crashes by 50 percent by 2030.

The expansion into four more markets marks a significant step toward Waymo's goal to surpass 1 million weekly paid trips by the end of 2026. Without identifying where its robotaxis will be available next, Waymo is targeting a list of eight other cities that include Las Vegas, Washington, Detroit, and Boston while signaling its first overseas availability is likely to be London.

To help pay for more robotaxis, Waymo recently raised $16 billion as part of the financial infusion that puts the value of the company at $126 billion. The valuation fueled speculation that Waymo may eventually be spun off from its corporate parent Alphabet, where it began as a secret project within Google in 2009.

Although Waymo is opening up in four more cities, its robotaxis initially will only be made available to a limited number of people with its ride-hailing app in Dallas, San Antonio, Houston, and Orlando before the service will be available to all corners in those markets.

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Teresa Gubbins contributed to this story.

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