I've done a fair amount of research on this topic, so I have quite the option, haha. I know it seems like people are becoming more obsolete, but what I truly think we see happening here is the inability of the market and our government to catch up to automation that has been happening for close to 300 years.
At the start of the 20th century nearly 90% of all employed people were employed as farmers. Today less than 10% of employed people are farmers, yet we don't have 80% unemployment. That's because in 1910 lawmakers saw that automation was severely reducing the number of farmers that would be necessary and state and federal government enacted legislation, known know as the "High School Movement", to get people (mostly teenagers) into high school so that they could develop the skills necessary for a 20th century economy. It worked! Around the time ATMs were introduced people thought that bank employees would become obsolete. There are currently more (in terms of numbers) people employed by banks than at any other time in history. Changes in the industry necessitated hiring more people.
So, I am not bothered by automation in and of itself. I am bothered by the inaction of huge corporations and lawmakers to do anything to ensure that people are able to get by with meaningful and useful employment.
Hi Rachel,
You really are knowledgeable about this topic! Thanks for your detailed, thoughtful reply. I think you have a great idea. We can use AI and if there were government regulations, we wouldn't have to worry about the future. Thanks for your comments and all your help.
Janice
I'm so glad to help!
I also want to clarify, when I talk about government regulations I'm talking about limiting AI - what I imagine are things like Universal Basic Income.