Many years ago, I remember people saying computers would bring in an era of four-day working weeks because of the work the would save us. What seems to be happening is that computers, in the form of physical robots (used now for decades for manufacturing cars etc) and artificial intelligence algorithms (that power things like chat-bots, telephony systems etc) are actually making people lose their jobs entirely.
The way things work with technology, is that at first, stuff is apparently too expensive to produce, it is priced highly so only those with enough money to buy it can profit from the gains of being an early adopter of the new technology. However, as time goes on the same technology becomes cheaper to produce and so it reaches more and more businesses and people who can afford it.
I’ve heard about futuristic visions of a society where only robots work, and everyone lives off a Universal Payment, which alarms me – more people tied to a system like the dole, and actually paid not to work!?
Consumerism fuelled by debt is at the heart of virtually every society on earth. If robots are going to take away more and more jobs, what will happen to the debt of those people whose jobs are taken away? How will those people be able to acquire goods and services or generate wealth? The notion of this Universal Payment seems like another device to lock in the existing uneven distribution of wealth in society, robots and AI will only serve to entrench this further.
RELATED LINKS
World Economic Forum: Robots are leading us down a dangerous path, says World Bank Chief
The Express: Bill Gates joins Stephen Hawking in warning Artificial Intelligence IS a threat to mankind