Michael Milken and Igor Tulchinsky:

New technologies tend to disrupt old businesses, but also to create more jobs than they destroy. That’s little solace, though, to the workers who lack either the skills or flexibility to find better opportunities.

From the factory floor to the Wall Street trading desk, advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and smart robots are already affecting millions of Americans in dozens of job categories. Across the country, especially in rural areas, workers and labor-force dropouts are suffering. Tragically, the death rate for middle-age whites—unlike other groups—has increased in recent years. Homelessness, disabilities, mental distress, pain and opioid addiction are all too common. Without help, many workers will sink further into isolation and despair.

This January, the McKinsey Global Institute reported that almost half of paid work can be automated with current technologies. That would increase productivity growth by an estimated 0.8% to 1.4%, compounded every year—a substantial economic boost. Unfortunately, it could also leave many more workers behind, without a chance for upward mobility.