Futurist Jerry Kaplan believes that 90% of jobs will be lost to robots in America alone, and that we should all be happy about it.
“If we can program machines to read X-rays and write news articles, so much the better,” Kaplan says. "Get another job!"
However, little attention was paid to inequality during this period of robotic rule. Robots, Kaplan admits, will be owned by the rich. “The benefits of automation naturally go to those who can invest in new systems, and these are the people with the money. Why not? Of course they are reaping the benefits,”he says.
“We do not need to take from the rich in order to give to the poor. We need to find a way to give entrepreneurs incentives.”
One possible solution to 90% unemployment would be “worker mortgages,” whereby people who were replaced by robots would be given loans repayable from future work earnings. “People need to be able to learn new skills through loans that pay off future income,” he says.
There will be a difficult transition period with high unemployment. "The bad news is that it will take some time to implement such things."
As artificial intelligence becomes more intelligent, some techies get nervous. Robots beat challenging games and create art that costs thousands of dollars. There is little discussion in Silicon Valley about whether this is happening or not, but more is about what to do with it all: tech investment vehicle Y Combinator recently launched a Basic Minimum Income experiment that gives people small, non-binding scholarships in preparation for the era. when jobs are simply not enough for everyone.
“Machines automate tasks, not jobs. Many of these tasks require simple logic or hand-eye coordination,”says Kaplan. "If your job requires a narrow set of responsibilities, then that job is at risk."
Promotional video:
He contrasted the work responsibilities of a nurse-nurse (with a long list of empathic and problem-solving activities) with the work responsibilities of a bricklayer (bricklaying). It can be compared to a Pak Man devouring a lawyer, driver, or doctor and spitting out an "online reputation manager" and blogger.
Kaplan says that there will be new professions, and points to the fact that his daughter's job did not exist 10 years ago - she is a social media manager.
He also says other professions will remain - professional tennis player, event planner, flower arranger or funeral master.
"No one will go to a burial robot," he says, "how do you imagine that?"