For decades now people around the world are sore about losing jobs to computers and automation but the real debacle is yet to unfold.
Industrial revolution ushered in the age of abundance and the much celebrated middle class was born. Past century was spectacular with energy rich petroleum at our disposal and with the birth of semiconductors and personal computers things started looking even better. 'All is well' until now in the spirit of better life for everybody.
However in the mean time computers got smarter by the day and started displacing workforce. Now this story is not new but at the pace at which they are evolving most semi-professional and professional services on which middle class thrive will soon be taken over by expert systems and robotic automation.
Computers may not become intelligent or conscious but will replicate the smartness of the smartest among us and sadly 90% of us may not be able compete with them for a living. The race is on to outsmart the machines...
Industrial revolution ushered in the age of abundance and the much celebrated middle class was born. Past century was spectacular with energy rich petroleum at our disposal and with the birth of semiconductors and personal computers things started looking even better. 'All is well' until now in the spirit of better life for everybody.
However in the mean time computers got smarter by the day and started displacing workforce. Now this story is not new but at the pace at which they are evolving most semi-professional and professional services on which middle class thrive will soon be taken over by expert systems and robotic automation.
Computers may not become intelligent or conscious but will replicate the smartness of the smartest among us and sadly 90% of us may not be able compete with them for a living. The race is on to outsmart the machines...
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A machine is no better than the person who created it, and last I checked People are riddled with flaws. Regardless of that, A person is able to look into a situation and discern an outcome beyond the obvious, where as a computer, by my understanding, comes up with possible scenarios, but not a full fledged decision. A computer can never replace a human.
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But Nicholas, not all jobs that humans do today, require our ability to reason, improvise or solve problems. A computer and/or a robot will soon replace all those jobs where it is all about conforming to a process than anything else. In the industrialized world, a major portion of the job market are these process oriented jobs.
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I highly recommend John Markoff's book, 'Machines of Loving Grace: The Quest for Common Ground Between Computers and Robots." Great reading on a challenging subject - will AI creations help or enslave us, etc.
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@Barney- I foresee this being both of these scenarios, first we will feel endangered by their prowess, then unburdened by it, allowing us the extra time to begin philosophizing about such concepts like freedom and socialist democracies not seen since that of the Enlightenment and Renaissance eras. We are currently in the phase of feeling threatened, and soon we will have to address the changes in how we run economies of robots and computers are at the forefront of industries. Contd
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... we will then be forced into a truly philosophical assessment of where and how humanity will proceed from there.
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@Nicholas - Well imagined and articulated but there are several assumptions underlying this hypothesis. We grossly underestimate our own peers by assuming such a relatively benign future for all of us in the wake of AI. Check out my new post on this subject - http://goo.gl/jQJj42
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