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by yann63 3181 days ago
Is it the question we should ask?

I'd prefer to ask another question: is it time to change our society, to go away from paid jobs? A job is one of the things that currently defines us, one of the first questions you ask someone you just met is often to know what job they are in.

If all jobs were automated, we could have more interesting occupations: taking care of our childrens, elders, neighbors, growing our garden, reading, art, etc. Many sci-fi authors saw the job being automated and society changing toward this. The question is how to we make the transition.

2 comments

Keep in mind that the transition wont be from black to white or visa versa.. We're talking about a gradual change over a decade and a half a least. In the meantime there will be an uptake in jobs that support this type of automation.. physically building the thing, building the digital experience(Design, UX, Backend architecture, process, branding) as well as ancillary jobs like IT support, installation, IT, legal, union, whatever.

It will be less drastic than people anticipate, as always with automation/ai. Different jobs will become more available and (hopefully) the value of those jobs will increase. Manual/tedious jobs that used to be considered low-brow will hopefully become "artisanal" or appreciated, and fill the gap.

A butcher used to be a respectable profession that would earn an honest days living. Maybe now, instead of a butcher working for his employer (with a cashier, accountant, manager, sales person), they will operate as their own employer. Other micro-focused based companies will handle the other needs for a fraction of the cost.

In the end, efficiency prevails with capitalism and tech in general.. Having a population with a low work force seems both inefficient and impractical. Life will find a way...

For a realist, the question is whether people with power benefit from your proposed change, or whether they are invested in the current system. If the system doesn't change, then robots may be detrimental.