For the most part, the real line cutters are not people one can blame or politicians can thunder against. That’s because they’re not people. They’re robots. Nothing is changing the face of American industry faster than automation, and nowhere is that change more stark than in the cornerstone of Louisiana’s industrial wealth, oil. According to a 2017 Bloomberg report, “Robots Are Taking Over Oil Rigs,” Nabors Industries, the world’s largest onshore driller, expects to cut the average number of workers at each oil well site from twenty to five.
