By Joshua Krause

Machines have been taking over our jobs for a long time. Ever since the industrial revolution began in the early 19th century, the human race has been racing ahead on a non-stop train to automation town. While the first factories obliterated countless jobs, for most of the past 200 years, the rate at which our jobs have been automated has been fairly steady and predictable.

However, a new surge in automation is upon us, the likes of which we probably haven’t seen since the 1800s. With the rapid advancement of computer technology, coupled with slow economic growth and widespread calls for a higher minimum wage, never have companies had more motivation to automate, as well as the means to do so on a wide scale.

In other words, many of the jobs that were once considered untouchable by robots, are about to disappear forever. By some estimates, nearly half of the jobs in the US may face automation over the next two decades.

Many of the first jobs to go will be low wage professions, since the workers in those fields are the most adamant about raising the minimum wage. Unfortunately for them, the writing is already on the wall. Their jobs are already being replaced with machines. Just this week it was revealed that the first automated grocery store was opened in Sweden.