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One chart shows how robots have already revolutionized America — for better or worse

Tesla Robots Model X
Tesla robots. YouTube/Tesla Motors

Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Hillary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders have made various promises about manufacturing in the United States — mainly that'll they'll bring it back from China to the long-suffering Rust Belt. 

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But as the New Yorker and 538 have pointed out, there's something missing from this pitch. 

Mainly that while manufacturing may be returning, manufacturing jobs aren't. 

TI_Graphics_manufacturing jobs v employees 01
Skye Gould / Tech Insider

 

Manufacturing jobs stagnated from the 1970s through 2000, and have dropped off since then. And yet production has been steadily increasing, save for a dip during the 2007 to 2010 recession. 

So what's happening? 

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Factories are getting more efficient — and more automated. A 2015 Boston Consulting Group report found that 10% of manufacturing functions are fully automated today. BCG predicts that it'll be 25% by 2025.

As 538's Ben Casselman notes, manufacturing is a go-to campaign promise because is provides jobs with good pay to people without a college degree. Factory workers make $25 an hour on average; retail workers (who comprise more and more of the workforce) make less than $18. 

The robots are coming for more than manufacturing. High-paying jobs (like those in the $350,000 a year range) are also at risk of being replaced by artificial intelligence.

Artifical Intelligence automation
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