If you wanted to study the effect of the introduction of automated manufacture on societal well being and happiness China would be a good place to start. No other major economy has been as enthusiastic in bringing in robots to help out as the charts below show.
Shangkun Xie and Siyuan Fan of the Nankai and Peking Universities decided to see if they could find a relationship between this unprecedented trend and individual happiness.
Previous studies have shown certain vulnerable groups, the old, the uneducated and the rural unskilled for example have suffered but in their study they consider the population as a whole.
There’s an interesting aside here. The map below shows how China is really about half the size you think it is. Maps for major highways and the high speed rail network are similar.
[There’s no chance that China can ever ‘level-up’ the West, IMHO. Don’t be fooled by rhetoric that suggests this may be possible!]
The bottom line is the research points to increased happiness as a product of automation via a number of channels: individuals who keep their jobs have greater self respect, more leisure time is created which for many is more family time and the process also promotes income growth, which is never known to retard happiness wherever it occurs.
Moreover, the work also highlights a trend towards political apathy and a greater sense of the importance of personal rather than collective well being which is contributing to a rising happiness trend that’s been observed in China over the last 40-years.
The researchers sign off coming back to the losers and suggest policies in future should address the vulnerable but highlight overall happiness gains appear to far outweigh discomfort at the margin.
The paper is an easy read and if you care for the deeper dive it’s here Happy Alone.
Happy Sunday.