The Future of Work: Misplaced Anxiety?

Are you anxious that a machine will one day replace your job? It’s a common enough fear, especially with the rate technology is advancing.If you have watched any of my previous episodes, you will know that technology is accelerating exponentially! We have seen the equivalent of 20,000 years of technology in just one century.Naturally, people worry about what this means for the future of work. Will human workers become obsolete one day?In this episode of Short and Sweet AI, I explore “technological unemployment” in more detail and whether it’s something we should be concerned about.In this episode find out:Why some experts think the anxiety over technological unemployment is misplacedWhy economists and AI experts are optimistic about AI’s impact on jobsHow AI could contribute to job creation and lossThe surprising impact technology has on certain job rolesImportant Links & Mentions:What will the future of jobs be like?VICE Special Report: The Future of WorkResources:The Takeaway: What Happens Next: The Future of WorkCouncil on Foreign Relations: Discussion of HBO VICE Special Report: The Future of WorkDaniel Susskind’s book: A World Without WorkEpisode Transcript:Hello to you who are curious about AI. I’m Dr. Peper and today I’m talking about the future of work.For centuries there’ve been predictions that machines would put people out of work for good and give rise to technological unemployment. If you’ve been listening to my episodes you know that technology today is accelerating exponentially. We are living at a time when many different types of technology are all merging and accelerating together. This is creating enormous advances which some have said will lead to the equivalent of 20,000 years of technology in this one century. And experts are asking what does that mean for the future of work?Historians, economists, and futurists describe the anxiety about new machines replacing workers as a history of misplaced anxiety. Three hundred years of radical technological change have passed and there is still enough work for people to do. The experts say, yes, technology leads to the loss of jobs, but ultimately more new jobs are created in the process. Automation and the use of machines increases productivity which leads to creation of new jobs and increased GDP. A well-known example would be the rise in the use of ATM machines in the 1990s which led to many bank tellers losing their jobs. But at the same time, the ATMs enabled banks to increase their productivity and profits and led to more branches being opened and more bank tellers being hired. The bank tellers now spent their time carrying out more value-added, non-routine tasks.In the early industrial revolution, when mechanical looms were introduced, many highly skilled weavers lost their jobs, but even more jobs were created for less-skilled workers who operated the machines.People who study economics and AI are optimistic. They think machines can readily perform routine tasks in a job but would struggle with non-routine tasks. Humans will still be needed for...