The recent conversation around artificial intelligence has made Fox Business’ “How America Works” host Mike Rowe revert to the “same old broken record” he’s been repeating for the past 20 years: learn a skill that’s in demand.
“It’s tough to get the poop back in the goose, especially with a thing like this. So yeah, I’m concerned, but I don’t really know what panic is going to do for the average person who’s looking at how is this going to impact my career, my life, my ability to provide for my family,” Rowe said while on a recent episode of “Fox and Friends.”
That’s when the former host of “Dirty Jobs” returned to the advice he’s been giving for decades. “Learn something that can’t be replaced with a robot or with artificial intelligence. Those jobs are screamingly open rights now — plumbers, steamfitters, pip fitters, mechanics, electricians.”
Rowe pointed to his own organization, the mikeroweWORKS Foundation as proof there are lucrative careers to be made in trade professions. He cited that, of the roughly 1,700 people his foundation has trained, many of them are making over six figures, “all of them in the skilled trades.”
“I use any opportunity I can to pivot and tap the country on the shoulder and say, ‘Hey look. Yeah, let’s worry about the things we have to worry about. But let’s get back on track over here with something that makes sense,” Rowe said. “Brother, we took shop class out of high school 40 years ago, and we’re still reaping the whirlwind. When we did that, that’s when we started telling kids that the best path for the most people is the most expensive path. We gotta stop. We either stop or we perish.”
Rowe first became a household name in the early 2000s with Discovery’s “Dirty Jobs.” In each episode, he tackled a different difficult, strange or disgusting job around the country, shedding light on the less luxurious professions that keep America running. In the years since, Rowe has become a vocal advocate for skilled laborers.
