Among the annoying challenges facing the middle class is one that will probably gounmentioned in the next presidential campaign：What happens when the robots come for theirjobs？
Don‘t dismiss that possibility entirely About half of U.S jobs are at high risk of beingautomated，according to a University of Oxford study，with the middle class disproportionatelysqueezed Lower-income jobs like gardening or day care don’t appeal to robots But manymiddle-class occupations-trucking，financial advice，software engineering —have arousedtheir interest，or soon will The rich own the robots，so they will be fine.
This isn‘t to be alarmist Optimists point out that technological upheaval has benefitedworkers in the past The Industrial Revolution didn’t go so well for Luddites whose jobs weredisplaced by mechanized looms，but it eventually raised living standards and created more jobsthan it destroyed Likewise，automation should eventually boost productivity，stimulatedemand by driving down prices，and free workers from hard，boring work But in the mediumterm，middle-class workers may need a lot of help adjusting.
The first step，as Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee argue in The Second Machine Age，should be rethinking education and job training Curriculums —from grammar school tocollege-should evolve to focus less on memorizing facts and more on creativity and complexcommunication Vocational schools should do a better job of fostering problem-solving skillsand helping students work alongside robots Online education can supplement the traditionalkind It could make extra training and instruction affordable Professionals trying to acquirenew skills will be able to do so without going into debt.
The challenge of coping with automation underlines the need for the U.S to revive itsfading business dynamism：Starting new companies must be made easier In previous eras ofdrastic technological change，entrepreneurs smoothed the transition by dreaming up ways tocombine labor and machines The best uses of 3D printers and virtual reality haven‘t beeninvented yet The U.S needs the new companies that will invent them.
Finally，because automation threatens to widen the gap between capital income and laborincome，taxes and the safety net will have to be rethought Taxes on low-wage labor need tobe cut，and wage subsidies such as the earned income tax credit should be expanded：Thiswould boost incomes，encourage work，reward companies for job creation，and reduceinequality.
Technology will improve society in ways big and small over the next few years，yet this willbe little comfort to those who find their lives and careers upended by automation Destroyingthe machines that are coming for our jobs would be nuts But policies to help workers adapt willbe indispensable.