Dirty, Dull, and Dangerous (3D) Jobs

3D 工作（脏、累、险）3DAdvanced

Jobs that are dirty, tedious, or dangerous — often seen as where robots will be deployed first.

The term traces back to Japan's “3K” (kitanai/dirty, kiken/dangerous, kitsui/grueling), and in English was first framed as dirty, dangerous, and demeaning (or demanding) — describing jobs that are hard to staff and often fall to migrant workers. The robotics industry commonly restates it as dirty, dull, and dangerous, folding in “tedious and repetitive” as well. It's frequently used to argue where robots should go first: these jobs are hard to hire for and have high turnover, replacing them with machines faces less social resistance, and customers are more willing to pay for safety and consistency. In news coverage, “replacing 3D jobs” generally refers to scenarios like foundry grinding and polishing, spray painting, heavy-load transport, chemical- and power-plant inspection, and hazardous-material handling.

ExampleSubstation inspection, nuclear-plant maintenance, and mining work are commonly listed as 3D scenarios well suited to robot replacement.

Also called: 3D Jobs
Related: Machines Replacing Humans · Labor Shortage · Special-purpose Robot · Inspection Robot · Real-world Deployment
Sources: Dirty, dangerous and demeaning - Wikipedia