tommyguns2
Senior Moderators
Staff Member
- Dec 25, 2010
- 8,053
- 8,670
I suppose it is possible that this will be the one time that the worst case scenario comes to fruition. I suspect, however, that AI will transform the workplace in such a way that many jobs that we'll be doing 15 years from now don't presently exist.Yeah man, I hear you. I am very well versed in the history of tech's effects on labor. Like you, I've studied this intensely. This is the argument of the eternal optimists. (I used to be an optimist like you). That somehow, someway jobs just appear once jobs are taken away. But this time it is indeed different. Here is why.
First we all farmed, working with our backs. Depending on where you lived perhaps 80% or more of people worked in food production. Then equipment took those jobs down to the low single digits percentage.
So we moved to factories and worked with our hands. Then automation took many of those jobs.
So we moved into service and tech. Now automation is about to take those jobs.
So tech took over our back work. Then tech took over the work we did with our hands. Now tech is coming for the work humans do with their minds. Tell me, what is left? Once the human mind and body are no longer useful, what is left?
What is interesting about this latest tech disruption is that it's likely to affect the white collar workforce sooner/faster than the blue collar workforce. That is, the guy in the cubicle moving paper is at risk sooner than the plumber, roofer or welder.