Port Strike: The Futile Fight Against "Automation"

Automation is the future for all modern businesses, like it or not.

AI has already eaten two of my jobs, so I am not unsympathetic to the concerns of dockworkers. It’s upsetting.

But unions like the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) are looking to get everyone fired and replaced with robots if they think a 70% raise and a total ban on “automation” is going to fly these days.

Automation doesn’t just mean robot muscle. Automation means invoices are sent automatically, payments are processed automatically, and spreadsheets are updated automatically. It can mean everything from an automated, robotic crane to an automated inventory counter.

Now, the “total ban” in question appears to be focused on “cranes, gates and moving containers in the loading and unloading of freight” - but are they suggesting it’s OK that the white-collar workers get replaced by AI?

Let’s get real here. There’s a bit of capriciousness in these demands, or a lack of understanding of what automation actually means. I’ll bet money these dockworkers have been using automation in various ways for years and probably take it for granted. Either way, an automated gate is no reason to shut down the entire Eastern seaboard.

We also need to be realistic. The writing is on the wall. Humans will be replaced by AI and robots in many jobs in the near future. Trying to stop this with a total ban is not realistic.

I’m not a fan of big corporations paying their often useless CEOs with millions of dollars while workers get shafted. But at the same time, aiming for a total ban of automation today would be like telling Henry Ford he couldn’t deploy the first assembly line.

It’s like the SAG-AFTRA Hollywood strike where we had more futile attempts to stop the progress of AI. The reality is, while Brad Pitt may now have a right to his face, the cat’s out of the bag. As soon as Hollywood figures out it can make movies a lot cheaper and profitable by using digital actors, the sooner human actors will be obsolete. Hollywood itself may end up being obsolete, even, as AI video tools allow smaller operations create big-budget-style productions with a few swipes of a mouse.

Our supply chain infrastructure is already heavily automated, and that trend will only accelerate. Yes, it has its plusses and minuses. Yes, automation makes us more at risk of a cyberattack.

No matter. Dockworkers will be replaced by robots. It’s not a question of if but when.

While I don’t blame them for trying to fight this, I feel a more productive approach might be to find some middle ground. The union should also be trying to help its members transition to new roles. Even a warehouse full of robots needs humans managing them.

In the short run, the rest of us are probably in for a lot of pain, because the demands of the union are extreme and probably so in order to try to get some concessions from companies. The negotiations will likely take months. This means that those of us on the East Coast may be looking at empty grocery shelves very soon now. I’m nervous about this and worried.

In the long run, we will see more and more people displaced and unemployed thanks to AI. It’s already hit me personally, and I’m already shifting my gears because of it. I’m not happy about it, but I also wasn’t doing things that were truly valuable per my ability and potential. The AI work loss, in that respect, may turn out to be a blessing.

We must look to the future and find ways to help blue collar workers find new paths despite AI technology, rather than trying to hold back technology and keep workers in a forever twilight of 1990s working conditions.

PS If you need to buy something important, do it now and don’t wait until our supply chain is snarled up for months on end.