Will Engineers Be Replaced by Robots?

Will engineers be replaced by robots? Yes! And guess what? Your level of creativity determines when the robot takeover happens for you.

So, down the road, robots are likely to take over every job we humans do today – yup, that includes the coveted engineering gigs.

Now, this is all under the assumption that technology keeps zipping ahead at its current pace.

I know, I know, loads of folks will argue with me. “Engineers are creative geniuses!” they say, “They’ve got brains for days! They’re immune to robot invasion!” That’s the story we’ve all been sold, right?

Well, plot twist! There’s a spectrum when it comes to engineering creativity. The level of creativity you bring to the table will determine when a robot snatches your job away. Yeah, I get it, not a delightful thought.

But hey, don’t picture menacing Terminator-esque robots kicking you out of your cubicle. As cool as that sounds, the reality is way more subtle. Sneaky software and clever hardware will gradually replace one engineer after another. A bustling office of 50 engineers will eventually shrink to a lean team of 5 – the best of the best.

Even Elon Musk sees this unsettling reality on the horizon:

“Robots will be able to do everything better than us… I am not sure exactly what to do about this. This is really the scariest problem to me.”

To wrap our heads around this looming shift, let’s dig into these questions:

• What type of work do engineers do?
• Which human activities can robots easily replace?
• Does technology always need human oversight?
• When will engineers start losing their jobs to robots?

What type of work do engineers do?

Engineering work varies like crazy! Some folks spend their days sizing screws (no joke), while others design cutting-edge rockets.

It’s a no-brainer that the screw-sizing squad will be robot food first. It’s not rocket science, after all! Advanced scanning tech can handle that job easily, and robots would be way more efficient and effective.

But what about top-notch design engineers? Their jobs are safer, but there’s a catch.

I like to group design engineers into different categories. In the table below, I’ve ranked the likelihood of robots replacing various types of design engineers in the next 50 years. A ten means it’s highly likely. Keep in mind, this is based on my own experience as a design engineer.

As you can see, the more creative the engineer, the less likely they’ll lose their job to robots. That said, even some less creative engineers might avoid the robot takeover. For instance, maybe they’re great at sales and bring in extra business on top of their daily tasks. This makes them more valuable than someone who just does one repetitive job.

But overall, it’s the low-creativity engineering jobs that’ll disappear first. Meanwhile, the trailblazing engineers will be the last ones standing. So, it’s crystal clear: not all engineering jobs require the same level of creativity, and not all engineers are equally valuable.

Which tasks are robots most likely to snatch up from humans?

Any repetitive job is ripe for the robot picking. It’s a no-brainer, really – repetition is the bread and butter of a programmed machine. You set up the right loop, and voila, the work practically does itself.

But wait, there’s more! Computers are champs at ironing out the kinks in our human workflow. After all, we’ve got some serious limitations. Take our eyesight, for instance. We can only see a tiny slice of the visible light spectrum. Without machines, these limitations would seriously cramp our style in cutting-edge engineering.

It’s easy to see why employers are drooling over robots and automation. Machines outperform humans in so many ways. The result? Overhead costs go down, productivity soars, and profits go through the roof. Plus, there’s no need to worry about human drawbacks like:

• Limited work hours (8 AM to 5 PM)
• Fatigue
• Inconsistent output
• Whining and laziness
• Lawsuits

Take a look at these engineering jobs that have almost gone extinct:

• Product engineers: Once, they provided product info to customers. Now, everything’s online, and you don’t need an engineer to walk you through a product.
• Hand drafters: Back in the day, engineers drew everything by hand. Today, advanced CAD software lets one engineer do the work of ten.
• Engineering analysis: Once upon a time, engineers crunched numbers by hand. Now, sophisticated software handles all the heavy lifting. One engineer can wrap up an analysis that used to take ten engineers months to finish.

Does technology always need human oversight?

Imagine you tell a machine to do X, expecting Y as the output, but instead, you get Z. In these cases, you need a human to keep an eye on things and make sure the machine behaves. You could argue that this makes machines inferior to humans.

In truth, though, we just need to design the machine better. So when the machine does X, Y is always the result. No more surprises with Z.

This is actually how every first-generation technology kicks off. Initially, new tech is riddled with problems, and skeptics are quick to predict its downfall.

But over time, and after countless design tweaks, the technology becomes nearly flawless. When you drive your car, you don’t expect to lose steering control. And when you fly in a plane, you don’t worry about crashing. It’s all thanks to engineers who’ve tirelessly refined these technologies to near perfection.

So why not apply this same concept to our tech-fueled future? The answer: recency bias!

Recency bias with the future of technology

Our brains haven’t quite caught up with the fact that the tech we depend on today was once scoffed at as a joke. For example, I’ve chatted with retired engineers who used to hand-draft designs before CAD came along. Back then, they never thought computers would totally take over their work. They listed a few reasons why computers couldn’t hold a candle to humans in drafting:

• Struggling to draw complex geometric shapes with dimensions
• Difficulty using different units in a single worksheet
• Trouble clearly differentiating various design components
• Issues integrating calculations into designs

Nowadays, young engineers can’t fathom not using CAD. But beyond boosting productivity, ditching CAD would send engineering back to the Stone Age.

Sure, we built jaw-dropping structures long before computers were a thing. But pushing the boundaries of engineering demands skills that we mere mortals just don’t have.

Hand drafting isn’t the only casualty. Other once-popular engineering tasks are disappearing, too. It might take half a century, but mark my words, it’s happening.

When will engineers start losing their jobs to robots?

I’m already seeing loads of lower-skilled engineering gigs bite the dust. Take product engineers, as I mentioned earlier.

In the old days, you had to call up a product engineer to get the lowdown on a product. Now, you can just lounge in your PJs and surf the web for all the info you need.

When the internet took off in the 1990s, it was the beginning of the end. Product engineers back then did repetitive work with little room for creativity. They learned the ins and outs of products and then explained them to customers.

But wait, there’s a twist! A few product engineers are still kicking around. These aren’t your run-of-the-mill folks, though. They’re total whizzes who know every detail about each item in their catalog. And they’re constantly flexing their creative muscles.

I know this firsthand because I’ve worked with some of these mastermind product engineers. They’ve been a huge help with product placements in my designs. They’ve reviewed my work, flagged potential issues, and suggested improvements.

And that is the secret sauce!

These engineers went above and beyond the typical product engineer role. They dove into design and real-world projects, injecting creativity into their work. That’s something machines won’t be taking over anytime soon, thanks to the countless variables and unique, custom work required.

So, here’s some advice: learn to work like a machine to make yourself indispensable. And don’t forget to hone your creative engineering chops. Creativity is a muscle that needs a good workout every now and then.

“Will engineers be replaced by robots?” wrap up

Sure, engineering jobs have a bit more cushion than your run-of-the-mill gig, thanks to the creativity often involved.

But let’s face it, over time, engineering jobs will feel the squeeze from machines and AI. I’ve come across companies that are all about trading dull engineering tasks for automation. Their mission statement spells it out:

“Reduce the number of manual processes through automation, to allow engineers to focus on high-level tasks.”

So, all you engineers and aspiring engineers out there, you’ve gotta stay ahead of the game with top-notch skills. In a nutshell, you need to keep leveling up by tackling unique, challenging work.

Trust me, you don’t wanna be stuck doing mind-numbing repetitive tasks day in, day out. Your competition isn’t just fellow humans anymore. Machines and robots are quickly becoming legit contenders that engineers can’t afford to ignore.

What are your thoughts on robots replacing engineers in the workplace? Do you think a day will come when robots replace all engineers?

Engineer Calcs

Koosha started Engineer Calcs in 2020 to help people better understand the engineering and construction industry, and to discuss various science and engineering-related topics to make people think. He has been working in the engineering and tech industry in California for over 15 years now and is a licensed professional electrical engineer, and also has various entrepreneurial pursuits.

Koosha has an extensive background in the design and specification of electrical systems with areas of expertise including power generation, transmission, distribution, instrumentation and controls, and water distribution and pumping as well as alternative energy (wind, solar, geothermal, and storage).

Koosha is most interested in engineering innovations, the cosmos, our history and future, sports, and fitness.