AI-powered robots risk making a significant portion of low-skilled immigrant labor unemployed

Humanoid robots infused with artificial intelligence are on the verge of automating and replacing a significant portion of low-skilled immigrant labor, according to a new report from the Institut Thomas More. The think tank's research, published on Thursday, identifies this phenomenon as a major emerging trend with profound implications for the workforce.

Jean-Thomas Lesueur, the institute's director general, stated that mass humanoid robotization will strongly impact manual, repetitive, and low-skilled jobs. He warned that this shift could occur much faster than anticipated, particularly in Europe, which he described as being "blinded by our massive technological lag."

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Mass humanoid robotization will hit manual, repetitive, and low-skilled jobs very directly and very strongly, and in a timeframe probably much shorter than we imagine – particularly in Europe, where we are somehow blinded by our massive technological lag.

Lesueur pointed to the rapid adoption of AI generative tools like ChatGPT, which reached nearly a billion users in less than four years, as an indicator of the swift pace of technological integration. He noted that for many major industrial players, the experimental phase is already over, and they are actively planning for the deployment of these advanced robotic systems.

Cyrille Dalmont, a research director at the institute and co-author of the report titled "Immigration and Robotization of the Economy: The New Landscape," stressed the need to reassess current immigration policies. The report's authors argue that the increasing capabilities of AI and robotics necessitate a strategic re-evaluation of how societies manage and integrate immigrant labor in the face of automation.

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The first public generative AI passed from the experimental phase to nearly 1 billion users in less than four years.