What If We Just…Stopped Working?
These changes have been under way for decades — all those lost manufacturing jobs were the beginning of a trend, not just isolated events affecting certain regions. Trump’s narrative about Americans’ losing jobs to immigrants might’ve helped him win votes from folks whose economic fortunes had declined over the years, but in most cases those jobs were lost to robots, and not some poor person from another country.For about 100 years, some experts forecasted an imminent future where robots would replace human labor. For the most part that didn’t come to pass, and they weren’t taken seriously, but as a thought-provoking article in The Atlantic points out, we might finally be on the precipice of that kind of future.For about 100 years, some experts forecasted an imminent future where robots would replace human labor. For the most part that didn’t come to pass, and they weren’t taken seriously, but as a thought-provoking article in The Atlantic points out, we might finally be on the precipice of that kind of future.We already have self-checkout machines at the grocery store, and ATMs; it is likely that advances in those technologies could mostly replace human workers. Fast-food restaurants have entertained the idea of replacing their employees with machines, and that future is probably fast approaching too. When one really thinks about it, these outcomes aren’t science fiction anymore, and even careers in which humans seem irreplaceable might eventually be threatened as better artificial intelligence is developed. It is possible that in a few short years, more than half the current workforce could be eliminated, all replaced by new technologies. Since there won’t be anything to replace those jobs on a one-for-one scale, this would signal a permanent shift in society and the workplace.Elon Musk, the futurist founder and CEO of Tesla, SolarCity and Space X, recently said he believes that after jobs disappear because of automation, the government will have to pay people a universal basic income, since there won’t be any other option left to them.