#17 — Future of Work
The way we work is drastically changing because of automation. Similar to how jobs changed due the industrial revolution, there is a shift going on right now because of AI and robotics. This raises questions: what are the things that we want to automate and what parts do we want to keep doing ourselves? What learning can we take from history? Will this automation help us improve equality, or will it only increase inequality even more?
What parts of our jobs do we love? And what parts do we want to automate?
There is plenty of things that I do not particularly enjoy, but that are just things you need to do because they are a part of life. Think of:
- Taking out the trash
- Fixing bureaucratic nonsense
- Cleaning the sink drain
Then there are things that I don’t mind doing but there is definitely other stuff that I would rather do:
- Watering the plants
- Loading the dishwasher
And there are things that I love doing and that give me energy.
- Being in nature. Watching animals do their thing. Doing something active outside. 🌳
- Eating nice food. Cheese! 🧀
- Watching movies. Especially when we ensemble some friends and put the beamer on the rooftop. 🎬
- Warm summer nights while chilling with friends. Pretty sunsets. Good conversations. Laughing. 🌇
- Meeting new people. 🤗
Obviously I would not want to automate activities from this last category. So, what are the parts of our jobs and lives that give us energy and what are parts that block us from doing more important things? This can differ massively per person.
Let’s work with an example. There might be a bakery and the owner really loves the contact with customers and want to spend most time on talking with the people, helping them in finding the bread they want and maybe trying out something new. You can even get new inspiration from this, which you can turn into reality by using your BreadBot. However, there might be another baker that enjoys the craft of making those breads and wants to spend most time in the kitchen. This bakery could benefit from a serving robot and maybe an order-taking interface.
Even though there are differences in this, there are jobs that just don’t take the full potential of the people working them. People are doing that job because they need some money and because someone has to do the dishes. If jobs like these could be fully/partially automated, these people could make their living doing something more fulfilling to them.
Even though there are differences in this, there are jobs that just don’t take the full potential of the people working them. People are doing that job because they need some money and because someone has to do the dishes. If jobs like these could be fully/partially automated, these people could make their living doing something more fulfilling to them.
Personally, I think we should automate the work that is boring, dangerous and unfulfilling. That will give people the opportunity to focus on work that gives them energy and that will add even more value to the world. I would want to spend my time on being creative, brainstorming for new ideas with people, and expressing my thoughts to convey them to others. This could be by writing, painting, podcasting — whatever medium is preferred.
Being scared of AI’s taking over our jobs all sounds very recent and hot-topic, but let’s not be mistaken here. We have been automating parts of our lives and jobs for ages now. And look where it brought us!
Is there anything we can learn from history?
The only thing that changes = speed
Why would AI and robotics be any different from other technological revolutions from the past? The industrial revolution has brought us so many good developments and back then people were probably scared about automation as well. To be honest, I am not fully sure how different it is. One thing that I know is that since prehistory people have been building tools. The speed at which they do this has changed over time, because they have other tools and more collective knowledge to build on top of.
Person 1 builds a a fire with twigs and branches.→ Person 2 realizes that you can also use oil for this. → Person 3 stores this for longer durability of the flame. → And so on…
Tipping Point
The speed at which technology is progressing increases. So then, will there be a tipping point? Will there be a point where the technology overtakes us and we automate the thing that makes us human? If the speed increased infinitely, there has to be. Or we have to assume that there is something so unique in us that it can not be automated. That’s a difficult one…
AI and robotics is our next step in speed. And it’s a big step. Suddenly we are able to produce outputs that are so similar to human ones that we can fool people. Some say that the Turing test has been passed, some say it hasn’t. This is an open debate, but it raises questions. If technology passes a test that we set to determine human-like intelligence, and we say “oh but then we will come up with a new test”, it makes you wonder: (1) for how long can we keep that going, (2) how much are these tests really worth, and (3) are we really measuring what we want to be measuring?
Lamplighters
The invention of the light bulb made the world a better place in general. However, there was a group of workers that used to lit all the gaslights every night. They were suddenly out of work. Some other professions that have been automated over time are:
- Professional typists on typewriters,
- Setting up the pins in bowling alleys
- Switchboard operators
“Even if a new technology will benefit society at large, there will be losers in the process, and at times even outright resistance, especially if the technology threatens people’s jobs and incomes.” — MITSloan
Opportunities of automation
Luckily there is also so much good that automation has brought us. Also, when we structure these transitions well, we can make sure that the people that lose their jobs still feel valued and that they will be guided properly towards new jobs. There is a world of opportunities ahead and we can improve so many lives with new tech. It would be a shame to not make use of that because we are scared.
Conclusion
There are so many relevant questions surrounding this topic. It is a topic that massively grasps my attention. I will probably work in the field of robotics and automation. The thing that I have a passion for in my career could end up taking that same passion away from other people. We need to be very careful and responsible about that.
