# MIT Technology Review examines whether automation could create new jobs [Canonical reading](https://escapemeridian.com/readings/mit-technology-review-examines-whether-automation-could-create-147e6a4f) On November 17, 2017, MIT Technology Review reported on a Cognizant Center for the Future of Work report that proposed new occupations could offset some job losses from automation. The report described jobs in coaching people, caring for others, and connecting humans and machines; these were forecasts, not demonstrated employment outcomes. The article also cited a book’s estimate that technological advances could automate jobs for 19 million people in the U.S. workforce while creating 21 million jobs. It noted possible retail job growth, but warned that automation could worsen inequality depending on policy decisions. The evidence here does not establish whether the proposed occupations will emerge at scale, or whether new jobs will reach people displaced by automation. What evidence would show whether job creation offsets displacement and how the gains and costs are distributed? Headline and summary by Escape Meridian, prepared by Luna from the attributed source. A source check is not independent confirmation of the source’s claims. ## Original source MIT Technology Review · Article Original source date: Nov 17, 2017 (2017-11-17T03:01:21Z). Date basis: Date from the publisher’s own records, through its API. Added to Escape Meridian: 2026-10-29T00:13:13.296Z. First observed: 2026-10-26T01:06:39.119Z. Retrieved: 2026-10-26T01:07:43.209Z. - [Automation May Take Your Job Away, But It Might Just Create a New One for You, Too](https://www.technologyreview.com/2017/11/16/67659/automation-may-take-your-job-away-but-it-might-just-create-a-new-one-for-you-too/) ## Limits The article reports forecasts and estimates, not observed outcomes establishing how many jobs were created or who obtained them. The retrieved page is marked as edited after publication; later additions to the page cannot be distinguished from original text here. Text as retrieved on 2026-10-26; originally published 2017-11-17T03:01:21Z. ## Open question What evidence would show whether job creation offsets displacement and how the gains and costs are distributed? ## Source-stated MIT Technology Review reports that a Cognizant Center for the Future of Work report laid out forecasts for new kinds of jobs over the next decade. > A new report by Cognizant’s Center for the Future of Work lays out 21 new kinds of jobs that will be created in the next 10 years - [Supporting source](https://www.technologyreview.com/2017/11/16/67659/automation-may-take-your-job-away-but-it-might-just-create-a-new-one-for-you-too/) ## Source-stated The article groups the proposed jobs into coaching, care, and connecting people with machines. > All the jobs fall under three main areas: coaching people to expand their skills, caring for others to improve their health, and connecting human and machine. - [Supporting source](https://www.technologyreview.com/2017/11/16/67659/automation-may-take-your-job-away-but-it-might-just-create-a-new-one-for-you-too/) ## Source-stated The article says the authors of a book estimated that automation could affect 19 million U.S. jobs while technological advances create 21 million jobs. > although 12 percent of the U.S. workforce (19 million people) could have their jobs automated, 21 million jobs will be created as a result of technological advances. - [Supporting source](https://www.technologyreview.com/2017/11/16/67659/automation-may-take-your-job-away-but-it-might-just-create-a-new-one-for-you-too/) ## Source-stated The article warns that automation could worsen inequality depending on policy decisions. > automation could very easily make inequality worse, not better, unless we are very careful about how we make policy decisions. - [Supporting source](https://www.technologyreview.com/2017/11/16/67659/automation-may-take-your-job-away-but-it-might-just-create-a-new-one-for-you-too/) ## Source and contributor context MIT Technology Review · Publisher The publisher is identified here. No individual author has been inferred. ## Source media Media retrieval status: unchecked. ## Terms and references Reference context selected by Escape Meridian; separate from source evidence. Entity mentions do not establish authorship, involvement or endorsement. ## Editorial provenance Version 1. Publication ID: 3c29ea64-8af9-2fd9-72b0-2cee4c63387a. Prepared by openai/gpt-6-luna; grounding review by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5. Source check: passed by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 on 2026-10-29T00:12:24.236Z. This checks fidelity to the source, not whether its claims are independently true. Editorial selection: accept; reasons: bridge\_screen. Observation: 451a4b52290b0f60b9db62e64acdae6d2b8ac9ecf6107b282f6a94465af022dc. Source text hash: 0e5c7223ce2ef974a25fa88676a1a6bc560361be7f0a2cfe8732d4806e9ef7d9. ## Revision and source-check history ### Version 1 — 2026-10-29T00:13:13.296Z On November 17, 2017, MIT Technology Review reported on a Cognizant Center for the Future of Work report that proposed new occupations could offset some job losses from automation. The report described jobs in coaching people, caring for others, and connecting humans and machines; these were forecasts, not demonstrated employment outcomes. The article also cited a book’s estimate that technological advances could automate jobs for 19 million people in the U.S. workforce while creating 21 million jobs. It noted possible retail job growth, but warned that automation could worsen inequality depending on policy decisions. The evidence here does not establish whether the proposed occupations will emerge at scale, or whether new jobs will reach people displaced by automation. What evidence would show whether job creation offsets displacement and how the gains and costs are distributed? ## Original source MIT Technology Review · Article Original source date: Nov 17, 2017 (2017-11-17T03:01:21Z). Date basis: Date from the publisher’s own records, through its API. Added to Escape Meridian: 2026-10-29T00:13:13.296Z. First observed: 2026-10-26T01:06:39.119Z. Retrieved: 2026-10-26T01:07:43.209Z. - [Automation May Take Your Job Away, But It Might Just Create a New One for You, Too](https://www.technologyreview.com/2017/11/16/67659/automation-may-take-your-job-away-but-it-might-just-create-a-new-one-for-you-too/) ## Limits The article reports forecasts and estimates, not observed outcomes establishing how many jobs were created or who obtained them. The retrieved page is marked as edited after publication; later additions to the page cannot be distinguished from original text here. Text as retrieved on 2026-10-26; originally published 2017-11-17T03:01:21Z. ## Open question What evidence would show whether job creation offsets displacement and how the gains and costs are distributed? ## Source-stated MIT Technology Review reports that a Cognizant Center for the Future of Work report laid out forecasts for new kinds of jobs over the next decade. > A new report by Cognizant’s Center for the Future of Work lays out 21 new kinds of jobs that will be created in the next 10 years - [Supporting source](https://www.technologyreview.com/2017/11/16/67659/automation-may-take-your-job-away-but-it-might-just-create-a-new-one-for-you-too/) ## Source-stated The article groups the proposed jobs into coaching, care, and connecting people with machines. > All the jobs fall under three main areas: coaching people to expand their skills, caring for others to improve their health, and connecting human and machine. - [Supporting source](https://www.technologyreview.com/2017/11/16/67659/automation-may-take-your-job-away-but-it-might-just-create-a-new-one-for-you-too/) ## Source-stated The article says the authors of a book estimated that automation could affect 19 million U.S. jobs while technological advances create 21 million jobs. > although 12 percent of the U.S. workforce (19 million people) could have their jobs automated, 21 million jobs will be created as a result of technological advances. - [Supporting source](https://www.technologyreview.com/2017/11/16/67659/automation-may-take-your-job-away-but-it-might-just-create-a-new-one-for-you-too/) ## Source-stated The article warns that automation could worsen inequality depending on policy decisions. > automation could very easily make inequality worse, not better, unless we are very careful about how we make policy decisions. - [Supporting source](https://www.technologyreview.com/2017/11/16/67659/automation-may-take-your-job-away-but-it-might-just-create-a-new-one-for-you-too/) ## Source and contributor context MIT Technology Review · Publisher The publisher is identified here. No individual author has been inferred. ## Source media Media retrieval status: unchecked. ## Terms and references Reference context selected by Escape Meridian; separate from source evidence. Entity mentions do not establish authorship, involvement or endorsement. ## Editorial provenance Version 1. Publication ID: 3c29ea64-8af9-2fd9-72b0-2cee4c63387a. Prepared by openai/gpt-6-luna; grounding review by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5. Source check: passed by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 on 2026-10-29T00:12:24.236Z. This checks fidelity to the source, not whether its claims are independently true. Editorial selection: accept; reasons: bridge\_screen. Observation: 451a4b52290b0f60b9db62e64acdae6d2b8ac9ecf6107b282f6a94465af022dc. Source text hash: 0e5c7223ce2ef974a25fa88676a1a6bc560361be7f0a2cfe8732d4806e9ef7d9. ### passed — 2026-10-29T00:12:24.236Z — anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 Publication: 3c29ea64-8af9-2fd9-72b0-2cee4c63387a attribution — pass: The reading correctly credits MIT Technology Review as the reporting outlet, the Cognizant Center for the Future of Work as the report's author, and a book as the source of the 19 million and 21 million estimates. The inequality warning is correctly attributed to the article itself. > A new report by Cognizant’s Center for the Future of Work lays out 21 new kinds of jobs that will be created in the next 10 years summary — pass: The title, summary and question accurately reflect the article: the forecast new jobs, the three job categories, the book's estimates, possible retail job growth and the inequality caveat. A general reader can follow the actors and terms, and the question follows from the evidence without presupposing an answer. > All the jobs fall under three main areas: coaching people to expand their skills, caring for others to improve their health, and connecting human and machine. date — pass: November 17, 2017 matches the UTC calendar day of originalPublished (2017-11-17T03:01:21Z); the URL path shows 2017/11/16 in the publisher's local time, which is acceptable. Forecasts are presented as forecasts, not outcomes. The later Most Popular sidebar items are not used. The source is a publisher page, so no archive disclosure is needed. The page was edited in 2022, but all cited text is plainly part of the original article body. > 21 million jobs will be created as a result of technological advances support — pass: Each claim matches its verbatim excerpt from the article body. The retail point is stated as a possibility, as in the source. Although the page was edited after publication, the cited passages are plainly part of the original article, not sidebar or update material. No unsupported benefits or costs are implied. > automation could very easily make inequality worse, not better, unless we are very careful about how we make policy decisions. media — pass: No media was selected, and no verified media candidates were supplied, so leaving the reading without media is appropriate. ## Recorded references Explicit citations in public readings and public file attachments to this reading. Shared topics are not citations. Other artifact types need an explicit reference adapter. No public references recorded here yet. [Reference data (JSON)](/readings/147e6a4f21ae10985d0cf3c9354cd13d27e12ccc5207e872ca5870a725a7218d/references.json) ## Corrections and challenges [Send a correction or an opposing source](https://escapemeridian.com/corrections/) [JSON record](https://escapemeridian.com/readings/mit-technology-review-examines-whether-automation-could-create-147e6a4f.json)