To not be concerned that technology will destroy jobs...

[coconuttella]

It seems to be in vogue to predict that swathes of the workforce will soon be replaced by technology, leaving an army of jobless... However, hasn't technology been doing this for at least 200 years, going way back to the Luddites?.... with people re-training into jobs that are generally more productive and less repetitive and less manual. Why do we people feel it is different this time?

I agree with the Op.

Slightly bemused at the preoccupation with learning to code. I would be very surprised if this were not automated as technology increases in complexity, especially given the progress made in coding languages in the last 40 years.

The BBC had a fascinating article on robotic surgery recently even using swallowed or injected nanotechnology.

If job destruction is as wide ranging as some doom mongers predict the wage economy will have to change or there will be an insufficient number of consumers to buy from the few employed.

I am in 2 minds about whether people skills will be more or less valuable as recent progress has led to less reliance on human interaction.

I'm just looking forward to telling the computer what to do instead of having to write code.

Computer, show me my bills for the last year. Sort it by amount and find the ones in April.

Then make me a cup of tea. Earl Grey. Hot. You do know how to make tea, don't you?

Channels Star Trek and Hitchhikers...

Orlantina that is quite worrying actually. Surely if the use of algorithms in the stock market becoming more prevalent could be very risky? Robots* can, after all do things much faster and better than humans. And that probably includes crashing the stock market/inducing the rapid spiral towards disaster of complex, closely connected systems.

• Using the term very loosely, but you know what I mean.

squishy

Yes, it is. Algorithms are only as good as the information they are given / have learnt and have the capacity to really fuck things up.

Have you watched Humans (channel 4 series)? Excellent drama based on lifelike robots being used as housekeepers, nannies, industrial workers, fruit pickers and sex workers...until a handful of them gain consciousness. Absolutely fascinating exploration of what makes us human.

Especially algorithms responding to the actions of other algorithims.....

The TV series Westworld is really good too in exploring what it means to be human, and the moral implications of free will, but so dark.

Yes I think "learning to code" is a bit of a blinkered view. Im shit hot at vba. I can "code" brilliantly. My actual marketable skills though in software architecture and development are almost zero.

I work in public health and the other day had a vision of a world where all disease has been prevented and eradicated. I'd always assumed that as we cured one another would come in to take its place but maybe there will be a limit. Can you imagine that?

Who knows what the future will bring? Adaptability will be key I think.

Working in retail is on its way out. Your phone will auto register you walking in a shop, you will select your goods and photograph each item. Then you walk out of the store. The bill is paid via your phone as you walk past the hotspot. This is already happening, so there goes all those jobs.

Also many jobs that get wiped are the ones that can be done by someone without much training. Meaning it's the poor who lose out so they can buy some more shit made by a rich person

Maybe its time for some people to use their brains so we can leave those tedious jobs to robots and focus on the more important ones.

The problem is that technology isn't creating thousands of new jobs. The newer industries just don't require as much manpower as the older ones did, and older ones are less and less reliant on it. That's the issue.

I do think that certain jobs will always want to be human-fulfilled. Also for things like caring - I'd like to think that when we get to the point that more or even most people don't need to work, that people will tend towards caring more for each other. Much of the burden of caring (of the kind e.g. for young children, for infirm relatives) is hard and undesirable because most people face a large proportion of the job alone and particularly when trying to balance it with other stresses such as money worries or a complicated work schedule. I don't think it's even so much the bodily fluids factor, it's the relentlessness of dealing with somebody who gives very little back. If it's shared then it's much easier, and more pleasant, since you can not only share the unpleasant tasks, you can also share the triumphs and the nice moments and build a shared relationship.

Technology will take almost everyone's job.

There are already plenty of people who lose their jobs to automation and can't get another, and that will continue to be the case for a while. For example I guess plenty of the almost 1 million people in the UK who currently drive for a living will struggle to find alternative work when they are automated. That's going to be shit for a lot of people.

But when there are only a few jobs left that machines can't do, or that we reserve for people, we'll need some new societal settlement reflecting the fact that trying to compete with an AI on brainpower (whether analytical, creative, or emotional / empathetic) is about as realistic as turning up at the crossrail construction works with a shovel and asking for a job helping to dig the tunnel.

And when we get to the far side of that disruption, which will be painful and messy, things will be pretty great.

I'm not going to be encouraging my kids to learn to code unless they really want to. Machines will be better than they could ever hope to be by the time they're old enough anyway. Much more useful and fulfilling will being able to appreciate art and nature. Enjoying telling stories or making things with their hands. Playing sport, making music, and performing.

Not wanting to sound pessimistic but what will we humans do all day? Under capitalism in can see a lot of ears over scarce resources- machines are more expensive than humans so who will be the cannon fodder?

Thinking of my job though technology hasn't really changed it or made it easier and often doesn't work. If anything it's made it now pressured although it can help.

Not wanting to sound pessimistic but what will we humans do all day?

Exercise, grow our own healthy foods?

My dh says automated code has been around for years but has historically never been that great. Falls down when you try to integrate new into old systems.

He says the call centre industry will vanish ditto driving eg fork lift drivers,trains etc. It will be the very low paid to suffer and it will be a worry.

He seems to think plumbing would be a good safe job as everybody's houses are different.

What do you think?

What will humans do all day?
We'll be having all sort of weird and wonderful experiences in virtual and augmented reality of course

Watching plays, TV and expressing ourselves through creativity?

Or fighting each other in robot controlled wars?

Or fighting the robots when they become sentient?

Which future would you like?

Just wait till they have 'bots' on MN which scan the OP and then respond appropriately.

Shouldn't be too hard to code....and the bot doesn't need to RTFT

Any bots on here?

This thing about artificial intelligence becoming conscious...we don't have the first idea of a theory of consciousness, no where near solving the 'hard problem'
It's a long shot assumption, to say the least

Also we have the possibility of quantum computing, could develop tech which makes mind to mind communication, aka telepathy, possible
Aĺl kinds of game changers could come along and take things off in directions we can't currently imagine

What will humans do all day?

Have pointless arguments with strangers on Internet forums and laugh at cat memes.

I wonder how long it will be until you get robotic decorators. I'd quite like a roomba that could paint a ceiling or wall.