US manufacturing has not been shipped out. US manufacturing output keeps increasing, though it's overall share of GDP is dropping.
US manufacturing jobs went overseas.
What went overseas were those areas of manufacturing that was more expensive to automate than it was to hire low paid workers elsewhere.
With respect to your final question, I don't think we should treat them differently, but I do think few societies have handled this well.
Most societies are set up in a way that creates a strong disincentive for workers to want production to become more efficient other than at the margins (it helps you if your employer is marginally more efficient than average to keep your job safer).
Couple that with a tacit assumption that there will always be more jobs, and you have the makings of a problem if AI starts to eat away at broader segments.
If/when AI accelerates this process you either need to find a solution to that (in other words, ensure people do not lose out) or it creates a strong risk of social unrest down the line.
US manufacturing jobs went overseas.
What went overseas were those areas of manufacturing that was more expensive to automate than it was to hire low paid workers elsewhere.
With respect to your final question, I don't think we should treat them differently, but I do think few societies have handled this well.
Most societies are set up in a way that creates a strong disincentive for workers to want production to become more efficient other than at the margins (it helps you if your employer is marginally more efficient than average to keep your job safer).
Couple that with a tacit assumption that there will always be more jobs, and you have the makings of a problem if AI starts to eat away at broader segments.
If/when AI accelerates this process you either need to find a solution to that (in other words, ensure people do not lose out) or it creates a strong risk of social unrest down the line.