Learn a craft to survive the coming robot apocalypse

This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, an updated Bayeux Tapestry of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. Sign up here. To remain employed in an AI-domin [Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, an updated Bayeux Tapestry of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - To remain employed in an AI-dominated workplace, [train as an artisan](. - Facebook will need to [roll with the latest regulatory punch](. - [Europe’s coming bond avalanche]( will test policymakers. - [Commodity funds weren’t immune to investor outflows]( in last year’s market routs. Software Can Narrate an Audiobook But It Can’t Tailor a Suit Apple Inc. recently added [audiobook narration]( to the growing list of occupations where algorithms are poised to replace humans alongside [graphic designers, college essayists and limerick writers](. Luckily, the fine art of newslettering remains (ahem) far beyond the capabilities of even the most sophisticated artificial intelligence software. Still, hope is at hand for those not fortunate enough to toil in the newsletter mines but still seeking gainful employment that won’t disappear as robots take control. Rachel Sanderson argues that there’s [a surge in demand for ancient artisanal trades](including lacemaking, leatherworking, weaving and tailoring. “Two decades of industrialization of luxury goods have given way to a return of consumer yearning for opulence,” she writes. “As a result, luxury houses are scrambling to find skilled workers.” The passing of Cesare Attolini in November at the age of 91 prompted Rachel’s musings. Attolini was “the great master tailor of the soft-shouldered suit,” dressing A-listers from movies past and present including Clark Gable, Al Pacino and Denzel Washington. “As digital technology becomes more pervasive, a sense of touch and humanity will be more sought after,” she argues. “For that reason, Attolini’s death may well mark, not the end, but the beginning of a new age of master craftsmanship. For white-collar workers vying with robots for supremacy, the simple human dignity of a handmade life may well become the real luxury.” If the Service Is Free, Then You Are the Product Apple’s 2021 decision to introduce a pop-up box asking users of its phones whether they wanted Facebook “not to track” them on other apps is expected to have cost the social media site’s owner Meta Platforms Inc. as much as $14.5 billion in lost advertising revenue last year. Most people — unsurprisingly — chose not to be tracked. That example gives [a flavor of how much is at stake](as Meta weighs how to deal with this week’s ruling by the Irish Data Protection Commission that it must change the way it asks users to agree to targeted online ads. “History has shown that billions of dollars in revenue can hinge on clever wordsmithing,” argues Parmy Olson. Until now, Ireland has taken a soft-touch approach to regulating Big Tech (Facebook’s European headquarters are in Dublin). But with the European Union poised to launch “the mother of all regulatory crackdowns” on technology firms in the coming two years, Parmy sees the industry needing to rethink its approach. “Now it seems Meta can no longer coast along under the watch of a lenient regulator,” she writes. “And if this marks a greater effort by the EU to push Ireland to toughen up against online platforms, that could also spell trouble for other companies that make money from targeted ads.” Europe Faces a Debt Tsunami Global fixed-income markets reached a milestone this week, with the disappearance of negative-yielding debt.  Rising yields in Europe and Japan have shrunk the universe of sub-zero debt down from a peak of more than $18 trillion in early 2021. With euro-zone governments needing to sharply increase their borrowing this year, [yields will either need to rise further or the inflation backdrop]( will have to improve to persuade investors to soak up the deluge of new supply, argues Marcus Ashworth. The coming bond avalanche will test the resolve of the European Central Bank, which is tightening monetary conditions in an effort to curb inflation. “The risk is clearly rising of a policy error,” Marcus argues. “European governments need the money — but there is a limit to what they can realistically afford to pay to finance their burgeoning debt burdens.” Telltale Chart Commodities were one of the few asset classes not to suffer ruinous losses last year. Nevertheless, funds under management in commodity-linked investor products ended 2022 slightly below the level where they started, with [big outflows from energy and precious metals]( in the second half, notes Liam Denning. Further Reading Winston Churchill’s mystery-wrapped riddle inside an enigma, [updated](. — John Authers [Taiwan must heed the wake-up call from Ukraine]( to “adequately prepare for catastrophic conflict with its giant neighbor,” China — Clara Ferreira Marques Kentucky’s [anti-ESG attack]( ignores its own energy reality. — Liam Denning America’s food-waste problem is [a hunger solution in disguise](. — Amanda Little [New FDA rules on abortion pills]( leave too many hurdles in place. — Sarah Green Carmichael [Treating sick children]( shouldn’t be this hard. — Bloomberg’s editorial board ICYMI The US keeps offering China its Covid vaccines. [China keeps saying no.]( Russia plans to [squeeze more cash out of companies]( to fund its war in Ukraine. The world is [falling out of love with Japanese cars]( amid the shift to electric vehicles. A record-hot winter is giving Europe [breathing room during its energy crisis]( (h/t Javier Blas for the chart below showing the mean temperature deviation versus the 30-year average, including 10-day ahead forecast). Kickers US prosecutors charged a 24-year-old French national with defrauding buyers of his [“Mutant Ape Planet” non-fungible tokens](, alleging he duped investors out of more than $2.9 million in cryptocurrency before his arrest Wednesday at a New York airport. This [entire island in the Bahamas]( is available to rent on Airbnb. A snip at $50,000 a night. Twelve lucky college graduates have the chance to drive [Oscar Mayer Foods Corp.’s Wienermobiles]( in a one-year gig that will cover an average of 20,000 miles and visit more than 20 US states. (h/t Andrea Felsted) Photograph: Tim Boyle/Getty Images Prince Harry’s book Spare is causing [quite the kerfuffle](. (h/t Marcus Ashworth) An autographed pair of Michael Jordan Nike Concords [just sold for a record $92,000](. Notes:  Please send Mutant Ape NFTs and complaints to Mark Gilbert at magilbert@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Instagram](, [TikTok](, [Twitter]( and [Facebook](. Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Opinion Today newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Bloomberg.com]( | [Contact Us]( [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( | [Ad Choices]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022