Chapter One:
Science, Tech, Business and Philosophy weigh in.
Where are we now and where are we going?
‘AI will reach the level of human intelligence by the year 2029,’ so says The Economist Intelligence Unit.
I don’t know how to react to this prediction - whether to be thrilled or terrified. How about you, AI?
Are you robots chuffed or insulted at this assertion?
Just look around the world as it currently stands.
Run by human beings, the world is going through massive change on many fronts: major economic challenges that destabilize political and commercial relationships - not to speak of the impact on the lives of billions of people. Political instability - fueled by egos at the center of power - and the enormous implications of climate change.
Furthermore, the acceleration of advances in technology - resulting in the rise of the robots - is reinforcing an atmosphere of tension in the global social order.
This is most obvious in the workplace. Ordinary hard-working people fear that they will lose their livelihoods to robots, via automation.
And they are right.
Especially if their work is repetitive, or process-driven in nature – such as in the case of accountants, lawyers, share traders, real estate agents, office administration staff, supermarket cashiers etc.
Writing in his 2017 book, entitled: ‘Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow’, Yuval Harari, historian at Hebrew University of Jerusalem says: ‘Technology will lead to superfluous people, as intelligent non-conscious algorithms improve.’
He further states that: ‘As algorithms push humans out of the job market, wealth and power might become concentrated in the hands of the tiny elite that owns the all-powerful algorithms, creating unprecedented social and political inequality.’
Clearly, we have something to think about when we upload our lives to social media…. What can - and what will - the algorithm owners do with us as we surrender all our rights to privacy?
On the other hand, there are those who focus on the positive.
‘Robots and artificial intelligence are upending everything we thought we knew about what it means to be human. The boundaries between person and machine are becoming difficult to define. Human brains power robotic limbs and an artificially intelligent machine serves as the manager of tens of thousands of workers; chatbots act as digital replicas of us. Humanity is effectively getting an upgrade.’ (Reuters/Mike Blake)
In their 2017 book: ‘The Future Workplace Experience’ Jeanne C. Meister and Kevin J. Mulcahy are quite clear about this. They write: ‘Every job will be impacted by technology.’ Note that they say ‘impacted’, not ‘’replaced’. As every job is composed of many elements, or tasks, many of the tasks within a job can be automated.
Research from the World Economic Forum’s ‘Future of Jobs’ report predicts that over 5 million jobs will be lost by 2020 due to developments in genetics, artificial intelligence, robotics and other technological changes.
The authors of the report also refer to a study, completed by Martin School at Oxford University in 2013, suggesting t
