U.S. Sen. Jon Husted said replacing workers in repetitive jobs with robots is “not a bad thing.”

“Robotics and other things like that are going to take away, are going to end a lot of the repetitive work,” Husted said during a 2021 virtual appearance with the Darke County Chamber of Commerce.

“If you worked in something that had a repetitive nature to it, those kinds of jobs are going away,” Husted said. “They’re going to be replaced by robots. I don’t think that is a bad thing, because I don’t think those are enriching — the enriching kinds of jobs that most people want to do.”

Husted was Ohio’s lieutenant governor and director of the Governor’s Office of Workforce Transformation when he made the comments.

The office is responsible for developing Ohio’s workforce strategy, promoting job-training programs and connecting employers with workers.

MeidasTouch reported the 2021 remarks Wednesday.

Husted’s workforce office was overseeing state programs designed to prepare Ohioans for an increasingly technology-driven economy.

TechCred, launched under the DeWine-Husted administration, used state funding to help employers train workers for technology-focused credentials in fields including robotics, software development and cybersecurity.

“As businesses restart operations and people go back to work, the need for a tech-savvy workforce is growing,” Husted said in 2020. “We must aggressively prepare Ohioans to compete.”

His comments to the Darke County Chamber went further: some jobs would not simply change. They would disappear.

“Those kinds of jobs are going away,” Husted said. “They’re going to be replaced by robots.”

Husted helped promote Ohio’s data-center boom

Husted spent his years as lieutenant governor promoting major technology and data-center investments in Ohio.

In 2019, he joined Google executives to celebrate the company’s $600 million data center in New Albany.

The project was expected to create about 50 jobs, according to The Statehouse News Bureau.

Google received a 15-year property-tax abatement from New Albany and a 15-year state sales-tax exemption estimated at $43.5 million.

Husted defended the tax breaks.

“There’s real benefits, to real people who live here and call central Ohio home,” Husted said at the groundbreaking. “You see all the men and women coming back, these are jobs, they have families it helps them pay the mortgage, pay for their cars, save for the future.”

Husted said the benefits would “far outweigh the tax breaks” and predicted Columbus would become the “tech hub of the Midwest.”

Ohio now has more than 200 data centers, the fifth-highest total in the country, according to the Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel.

Companies plan as much as $40 billion in additional Ohio data-center investment by 2030.

The state consumer advocate says data centers create construction jobs but relatively few permanent jobs once the facilities are built.

Large AI-focused hyperscale data centers can consume as much electricity as small cities.

Husted continues to promote AI and robotics

Husted has continued promoting artificial intelligence and robotics since becoming a U.S. senator.

At a White House roundtable in March, Husted called American dominance in artificial intelligence a national economic and security priority.

“If America wants economic and national security dominance, we must lead in technology and AI to stay ahead of adversaries like China,” Husted said.

In May, Husted joined legislation creating a national research infrastructure for artificial intelligence.

“As AI continues to transform the world on a global and economic scale, it’s critical to our innovation and national security that America leads — and wins — the race,” Husted said in announcing his support for the legislation.

Husted visited Path Robotics in Columbus in August, where the company develops robotic welding systems using artificial intelligence.

His office said Path Robotics was helping Ohio manufacturers “overcome workforce challenges and increase their productivity.”

“Ohio is building the future of American manufacturing, from the next generation of defense technology to the robotics that are helping our manufacturers compete and grow,” Husted said in an Aug. 14 statement.

Five years earlier, while running Ohio’s workforce-transformation office, Husted had already said what he expected robotics to mean for workers performing repetitive jobs.

“They’re going to be replaced by robots,” Husted said.

“I don’t think that is a bad thing.”