Computers have increasingly displaced workers in ‘routine’ tasks that are characteristic of many middle-skilled activities, such as clerical and administrative work, and repetitive production tasks. But as David Autor, one of the leading scholars in this field, importantly points out, the fact that a task cannot be computerized does not imply that computerization has no effect on that task.
On the contrary: tasks that cannot be substituted by computerization are generally complemented by it. This is evident in many highly skilled jobs where information technologies increase the productivity of workers. But this may also be the case in many manual jobs. David Autor uses the example of contemporary construction workers, who by historical standards are akin to cyborgs.