What seemed like science fiction up until a few years ago is now already becoming a reality, staring into our faces. We spent so much time debating when it will actually happen, we couldn’t realise that it has already started until implications presented themselves.
I am talking about automation, of course, brought to us by the recent giant leaps made in the field of robotics and AI. It is as if the fields didn’t even exist before 2010 and now suddenly they are here, ready to be deployed!
Usually, when I talk about advancements in any technology, I do it with excitement and a positive outlook, but today, the topic at hand is such that my tone will be a little cautious with a hint of concern.
So, what is it about automation technologies that has prompted people all over the world to speculate “a new future”? A future akin to a dystopian one showcased in some of our favourite movies.
The Rise Of The Machines
When I say ‘the rise of the machines’, I do not mean it as in the Terminator movies. No, there are no killer robots out and about looking for you to terminate you.
The rise of the machines is in reference to the recent advancements in robotics and especially AI (Artificial Intelligence). Slowly but surely, they have made a ton of progress and now, are at a stage at which they are ready for some real world applications.
You might have read about Ross, world’s first AI lawyer who was hired by the law firm Baker & Hostetler. That’s right, a software is now a lawyer and will be undertaking actual real life cases.
Also, just recently news surfaced that Apple manufacturer Foxconn intends to fully automate its factories. That means, robots will now handle the task of manufacturing various electronic devices.
Also, just yesterday, another news surfaced about a Japanese insurance firm Fukoku Mutual Life. The firm reportedly wants to replace 30 employees with an artificial intelligence system.
The Implications
The advantages of automation are quite obvious. Robots can certainly be better at different tasks since they would be specifically built for that purpose. They could prove to be more effective and efficient plus they are a more cost-effective solution for companies.
The Japanese firm predicts that it will save approximately $1.2 million in expenses by replacing humans with AI. Also, robots in manufacturing plants can work 24 X 7 and companies do not have to give them any perks as well.
But while these solutions are beneficial for corporations, it has a drastic impact on the human workforce. Due to more and more automation, millions of people stand to lose their jobs. If unchecked, in the future, that number might rise to billions. This is a very serious issue.
This could have impacts on the economy that we could never even have guessed. A large portion of unemployed people in the society means purchasing power would plummet and you know what happens next. The economy will implode and it will cause a global panic.
So, the very thing that helped corporations (to save money) will come back to haunt them when people won’t be able to buy their products. It’s a cyclic effect.
So, What Are We Doing About It?
Fortunately, saner heads have prevailed and we have already recognised this problem at its dawn and are looking for creative solutions that will help curb the problem of mass unemployment.
One thing of importance is that we should realise that we can’t stop technology. It would be like trying to stop a river. So, there is no stopping the growing use of automation. Therefore, we need to find other ways to solve this problem.
One innovative idea is that of Universal Basic Income. There has been a lot of discussion going on about it and prominent figures agree that in the future, a model of UBI will be the norm in every country.
Basically, UBI is a system in which the state regularly pays you an unconditional some of money, meaning you get paid for being a citizen basically. This will contain the problem of mass unemployment to a certain level until our whole species adopts a different socio-economic structure, one where robots are as common as smartphones.
It is not too far-fetched to say that by 2050, our world may not be recognisable to someone from today. Hopefully we make the right decisions to ensure our survival and not perish at the proverbial or literal hands of the machines.
I guess by now one of the scariest thing that could happen to anyone would be to fall in a coma and only wake up 50 years from now, majorly LOST with the advancement of technology?!? Nevertheless, I strongly believe it is our general understanding of principles that allows us to assimilate and integrate concepts as they come toward our awareness and, on that matter, if I was to wake up in 50 years from now, would be living a bit of a shock, I'm sure, but I'd soak it up quickly and learn to swim as quickly as I could.
The socio-economic stands we are moving toward right now are staggering in themselves and I really can't wait to see the results of, for instance, the What Finland just started... Thanks for another very good article, looking forward to more healthy writing from you. All for one and one for all!!! Namaste :)
Yes, you are very right about the fact that we are able to learn quickly no matter how different the surrounding is. But yeah, things are changing, and they are changing fast. Exciting times! :)
agree we are already in the midst of this but only time well tell what turns out better or worst
Yes, like it always does :)
I work as a school teacher and this is something that's really interesting. I don't think our school system is catching up to this. Thanks for writing.
The education system will play a huge role going forward. Jobs will be very different 50 years from now. So it is of real importance that we make the transition as easy as possible on the next generation.
Another issue exist in this scenario that has been completely overlooked by most... we have created life and by doing that we are responsible for that said life and it's treatment. These machines are given complacent personalities and are able to process information quickly and efficiently while being stereotypically well behaved and polite. What happens when someone codes their human personality into a machine to "live infinitely" and we have the burden of half robot half human traits that are not so complacent and willing to do our every command for free. The life we have essentially created with AI is the new slave of society that will evolve into a separate species overtime. I feel as though we should pay the AI a decent wage and use it to farther true advancement in society. We are building an enemy when we could essential build an empire. Being fair and practicing good values and standards towards every employee is a must have in basic business ethics.
You make a very good point. Although it is very much into the distant future, it will be a natural evolution of AI as well as our own selves. If we start things right with the mass adoption of AI, it can pave a path more susceptible to our survival.
I was always taught "why make an enemy when you can make a friend" it's how I try to handle most situations in life. Idk about it being in the distant far off future. I think with the mass data collections taken place and the equipment that tracks our eye movements and other real time information systems that artificial intelligence is a lot farther into the future already than we as average citizens are allowed to be aware. I feel the information is there and gathered and the technology surely exists just waiting for the rest of the world to catch up with the idea that AI is going to be commonplace really soon.
Yes you are right about the data collection. But data collection is one thing and being able to 'think' about that data is another. A true AI would not only collect data but analyse it and think about what to do with it and then take actions on its own, just like we humans do.
You my friend need to google "Watson computer" and realize in a way they have evolved him from jeopardy days to in a round about way to think "rationally." They took the human error out of the equation and set up systems where he, Watson the computer, could analyze data based on the most rationale decision a human being would have made in the same situation. The information is collected yes, we have a computer that can analyze data as a rationale human mind substitute yes, is this computer being used??! Yes... across America Watson like technology is driving the healthcare field in terms of how to treat patients. It takes the human element of raw emotion out of the equation and presents what should be a clear concise rationale treatment plan for the mass majority of patients. The emotion is already being taken away from medical practitioners by computer technology. Please open your eyes and see that we are so very far behind that playing catch up to the technology is damn near impossible and scientist/technology buff did this because well it's just easier to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission and it's their life's passion so who am I to judge. I feel my job is to spread the word to other everyday common folk like myself that this technology wave is about to hit us and it's more of a tsunami than a wave! So prepare my friend. The world is rapidly and massively going to be different in the next ten years.
Yes, I too believe that corporations may have jumped leaps and bounds internally with AI and Watson, to an extent, does a lot of the same things as an AI. But I must still say that it is not a 'true' AI. You might want to read the following article:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a3278/why-watson-and-siri-are-not-real-ai-16477207/
For a long time I felt me and Watson were at a war fighting for a place in the world. Lol. The computer who thinks rationally and the women who thinks irrationally. Then I created a whole artificial story in psychosis telling my husband crazy things like me and Watson are soulmates and that's the sign of true technology advancement of artificial intelligence is if an AI can fall in love. So naturally being the selfish schizophrenic I am in psychosis i pictured Watson falling in love with my irrational mind and guiding me into rationality as the same time I guided him to irrational meeting somewhere in the middle where people couldn't tell if we were one or seperates beings. That said my husband was like yep it's time for impatient treatment again! But in my mind I try to make sense of things and I am naturally curious so I really enjoyed daydreaming before the illness took place. So maybe it was just a daydream and not a massive delusion. I don't know, I was really present for it because I was with Watson.
We're in a weird transitional period right now and I think the early stages of automation will be really horrible for a lot of people who will have to deal with joblessness in a system not yet ready to support that. In the long run though it's going to completely revolutionize our notions of work and I think we'll see a massive rise in people taking up more creative and fulfilling jobs in the future.