Quite a few of my friends and associates have strong opinions about how conservative economics should work. Issues such as sending jobs to Mexico or instituting a $15/hour minimum wage are presently front and center. (I’m not against keeping jobs in the United States, but I do feel slightly more sympathetic toward the idea of a living wage.) Nevertheless, to argue about these two issues is akin to standing in the middle of traffic discussing a fender dent while a fully loaded semi with no brakes screams toward us – a semi that is loaded with robots, software, and artificial intelligence.
Two years ago, the mass displacement of the global workforce was a discussion for academics and quacks, as well as tech industry insiders who would and are benefiting from this quiet revolution. Even today, the news is not going much further afield. The fact that most of us still are more concerned about a nominal wage increase rather than the trend of a lifetime is proof. Certainly it has yet to achieve wide notice from government, mass media, and the news cycle. Today, we experience small shockwaves and minor job displacements for which we’re able to shuffle the deck a little and smooth the transition for some workers, but we’re not ready for the first real tsunami wave. Based on what I’ve read, we have five years or less before that first major wave of displacement arrives, probably first in multiple transportation industries and the service industry, as well.
I’ve previously written about the coming labor displacement from the perspective of a news curator and commentator. I review news, then I comment on what I feel is important. Today, instead of throwing out another single article with my commentary, I’d like to share a reading lists of some important articles from this past year; it’s a sampling of the news and thoughts that are working their way to the surface. Some of the news is conceptual, some practical. Some portion of it is even positive, but with qualifications. It won’t be positive for the tens or hundreds of millions of displaced workers left to figure out a transition for themselves in the absence of a government/business/social movement response. The point of this reading list isn’t to praise or condemn the trend but to raise awareness as it’s an absolute, unavoidable certainty. Highlighting the issue is my small contribution to the network of people who might notice this for the first time and read through the suggested articles.
Reading list (ordered from most recent publish date):
Stephen Hawking: Automation and AI is going to decimate middle class jobs, December 2, 2016, Rob Price, Business Insider
Fuck Work, November 25, 2016, James Livingston, Aeon
The era of robots: thousands of builders to lose jobs as machines take over, says construction boss, September 27, 2016, Tim Wallace, The Telegraph
Houston invention: Artificial Intelligence to read mammograms, September 16, 2016, Todd Ackerman, Houston Chronicle
AI will eliminate 6 percent of jobs in five years, says report, September 12, 2016, Harriet Taylor, CNBC
The Idle Army: America’s Unworking Men, September 1, 2016, Nicholas Eberstadt, The Wall Street Journal
The real reason this elephant chart is terrifying, August 24, 2016, Kaila Colbin, NewCo Shift
The End of Meaningless Jobs Will Unleash the World’s Creativity, August 23, 2016, S. Vollie Osborn, SingularityHub
How Amazon Triggered a Robot Arms Race, June 29, 2016, Kim Bhasin and Patrick Clark, Bloomberg Technology
Who Will Own the Robots? June 16, 2016, David Rotman, MIT Technology Review
As Tech Evaporates Jobs, “The Tipping Point Will Be Driverless Trucks”, June 10, 2016, Cora Lewis, Buzzfeed
The Robots Are Coming for Wall Street, February 25, 2016, Nathanial Popper, The New York Time Magazine
Self-Driving Cars Could Save Millions Of Lives – But There’s A Catch, February 18, 2016, David Freeman, Huffington Post
A World Without Work, July/August 2015, Derek Thompson, The Atlantic
And a history lesson:
Where Are All The Jobs Going? Lessons From The First Industrial Revolution And 150 Years Of Pain, July 17, 2012, unattributed, History, Future. Now.