One piece dealt with our working lives and how long we will be toiling for. In the developed world longevity is the new buzzword. We are living longer. We might not be procreating at the same rate but third age denizens are all the rage at the moment. Unintentionally, mind. We are living longer because our standards of living have also improved. We have fewer life-ending wars. A population-decimating event like the 1918-19 influenza pandemic, which killed between 20 and 40 million people, is unlikely to happen again. Whether you are in favour or against them, many modern diets provide healthy options that were unthinkable only two generations ago. That is why the recent deaths of David Bowie and Alan Rickman caught us all by surprise. They were both expected to live longer.
The second article focused on the long-heralded arrival (and conquest) of robots. Well, robots have been with us for many, many years but apparently their role in society is about to change drastically. The appropriation of the world by robots will be apparently in the form of emulations. They will be modelled on the best and brightest 200 human beings on the planet. Add quick decision-making and overall expediency and... voilà, the robot revolution is here!
Why do I think that the two pieces are related? Because if, on the one hand, we are living longer and therefore retiring at an older age, where does that leave us in relation to robots? If they are coming to take our jobs (pardon me for sounding like a Daily Mail or The Sun reader), what is left for us, the humans who breathed (metaphorically speaking) life into their metallic bodies? There seems to be a hitherto-unnoticed contradiction. Or perhaps there is no contradiction but intent.
It was John Maynard Keynes who promoted the idea that in the future we would have more time for leisure activities. Technology would take care of the daily grind. Workaholics would be looked down upon and pitied. But even one of the more important economists of the 20th century could not predict the arrival of zero-hour contracts, outsourcing and consumerism. Together these elements (and others) sustain our on-one-leg-balancing economy. Workaholics, far from being treated with quasi-condescension, are worshipped and imitated.
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| Sorry, mate, but I've come to take your job |
In a generation’s time, if we are still living as long as we are living today and retiring at, say, 80, what will we be exactly doing? If robots are fast taking over and within a few years they will be performing most manual and technical roles, what do we, then, do with the rest of the population? Remember that we are talking here about self-managed machines. No need for Joanna or John to go to uni for three years in order to get a degree in engineering. The robot already has an in-built function that makes it (it? How about “her” or “him”? Why not?) plan its professional life as if it were a human being. You see, the robot is emulating one of those 200 eminences grises.
As I mentioned before, the automated future has been with us for many years now. But it has never felt as threatening as it does now. I guess one of the reasons is that the world of robotics felt distant; not so much an Us vs Them scenario but more like an Us and Them. Yet, that “and” still meant distance. It is not the same now. Now there is a real possibility of Sam at the till in our local supermarket being a robot. If that means giving hot-blooded, human being, 60-year-old Susan the heave-ho, then, so be it. What happens to Susan, then? She still has another 20 years before retirement, has worked at the local supermarket for more than 30 years and is not qualified to do anything else. Where’s the Plan B here?
You can see now why these two pieces of news, which at first sight seem unrelated, scared the living hell out of me. At almost forty-five, I am no spring chicken but I think I still have another twenty-five years inside me of active toil. I love what I do and for the life of me I cannot see a robot doing my job. Then again, technology is moving at such a fast pace that I would not be surprised if one day there is a knock on the door and I open it to greet an R2-D2-looaklike with a simple message: I have come to replace you.
© 2016
Next Post: “Urban Diary”, to be published on Wednesday 1st June at 6pm (GMT)
Thoughtful exploration of very important issues.
ReplyDelete" If that means giving hot-blooded, human being, 60-year-old Susan the heave-ho, then, so be it. What happens to Susan, then? She still has another 20 years before retirement, has worked at the local supermarket for more than 30 years and is not qualified to do anything else. Where’s the Plan B here?" Retirement not till 80?! Poor Susan!
Yes, I remember that prediction that we would all have so much leisure we would wonder what to do with it. It did seem to make sense, with the rise of technology. I sometimes wonder just what the process was by which we all ended up working so hard. So I suppose my thought is that predicting anything outside the immediate future (say 5 years) is probably a bit of a waste of time. It is always the curve ball that catches us out, the unexpected thing, or the person who emerges from nowhere to become a great leader, for good or bad. I wonder what difference the EU vote will make long term but then I am rather obsessing about that at the moment.
ReplyDeleteYes, I remember that prediction that we would all have so much leisure we would wonder what to do with it. It did seem to make sense, with the rise of technology. I sometimes wonder just what the process was by which we all ended up working so hard. So I suppose my thought is that predicting anything outside the immediate future (say 5 years) is probably a bit of a waste of time. It is always the curve ball that catches us out, the unexpected thing, or the person who emerges from nowhere to become a great leader, for good or bad. I wonder what difference the EU vote will make long term but then I am rather obsessing about that at the moment.
ReplyDeleteScarily true. On so many levels.
ReplyDeleteI do wonder whether the 200 best and brightest include those with empathy and artists (whatever their medium)...
Oh yeah, we'll have sooo much time for leisure but no money to do anything. Pffft that will work. If robots come into the mainstream power, taking jobs, etc. Skynet will be upon us.
ReplyDeleteThere is one more ingredient to this cocktail, CiL: Out of control population growth.
ReplyDeleteLiberals frequently fret about climate change, but the absolute danger is a vastly expanding population. Science and technology might be able to feed the masses, but where are you going to put them and how are you going to keep them occupied and where is the money going to come from to provide them with an adequate standard of living?
Live longer and retire at age eighty, you say? Retire from what occupations? Escalating automation constantly reduces the number of workers required in more and more fields of endeavor. I already do my own check out at the supermarket. Unless someone wants pop, candy or cigarettes, there is no need to enter a gasoline station; just pay at the pump with plastic. Have you seen an assembly line at an auto plant recently, or, for that matter, any manufacturing factory? Where have all the workers gone?
I do not think it is some sort of utopian, socialistic society humankind is headed toward, rather a world of ever-increasing competition and strife and psychosis. In short, CiL, I think the situation is even more grave than you outlined.
The music sort of fits my view of the future and this post, CiL, and your topics certainly stir the imagination.
It,s a thorny one. As an older woman, I'm grateful to whoever invented washing machines and hoovered, because they made it possible for me to be a working mother. My great-grandmother was widowed with nine children and no education and life was really tough for her. I was widowed with four children and a degree, and machines that made keeping the show on the road much easier.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how men who used to toil in the car factories feel about the machines that have replaced them? Or the farm workers who used to milk huge herds of cattle by hand?
So it's mixed. And the problem (as I see it) is that we simply don't know what the impact of robots will be. If I have one that puts the rubbish out for me, then fine, but if it tells me what to wear then it can take a hike. Can robots replace teachers? They may be able to 'stand' at the front of the class and deliver information, but can they provide the compassion that Nellie or Johnny needs if things at home have gone awry?
Hi ACIL - living longer we are in the western world ... we need yet to learn to deal with that aspect on a personal level and be prepared for being around for many a year to come. There are and will be many opportunities - we just need a different mind-set ... and be prepared to try new challenges.
ReplyDeleteAs to robots - they'll help with the heavy and repetitive stuff ... but again there will be opportunities - we at least are creative .. and perhaps we will need to be in a month's time more so than now ...
Cheers Hilary
I meant to add ... Bowie smoked like a chimney ... while Rickman died from Pancreatic Cancer - and there seems to be an awful lot more of that cancer around ... Hilary
DeleteA very interesting and thought provoking post. I used to worry about the future but now that I've reached a great age I worry about living longer. As I see it, there is no future for human beings.
ReplyDeleteI honestly hadn't given this subject much thought until now...but yes...when you come to think of it, this really is the stuff of nightmares, isn't it??
ReplyDeleteI do remember having a recurring dream as a child of running for my life away from an out of control robot.
Still, today, just recalling it brings me out in goosebumps.
A premonition?
I really hope not...;)
Greetings from Hampshire.:))
I echo Pat's comment, we'll have leisure but no income.....I am very nervous about the new driverless cars. I would not trust my life to one.....machines malfunction! Interesting topics!!!!
ReplyDeleteI suppose robots will make robots and then repair them when they are broken, they will wear out at some point. And then the robots will send those driver-less cars to pick them up and bring them back to the robot managed factory. (which of course you know, was built by....) The driver-less car may then have a rare malfunction and accidentally run into a crowd and kill many..but they will all be robots. That might be a good thing, unless you have become deeply attached and even perhaps..love..your robot.
ReplyDeletePS: yesterday was my bday, I am 66, so now, here in the state, I am officially "retired"...let the fun begin!
ReplyDeleteI would love some bionic or robotic parts to make up for those that are failing, but to be replaced by robots? Scary thought...Best to you!
ReplyDeleteSo much of our modern life has improved because of the many inventions that made our lives easier, from microwave ovens to cellular phones. We adapted, changed our work, innovated our work, communicated more easily, stored and shared info easily, and have enjoyed easier lives, less painful jobs, more accurate surgeries. We are the makers of inventions, the dreamers of better lives for ourselves and for our children. We are still mortals, susceptible to maladies, and will eventually die. But, in the meantime, a computer will identify problems that can be corrected way in advance, communicate and coordinate services needed in present and future situations, and our lives will continue to improve and provide more satisfaction and less pain. I'm living proof, having already lived ten years more than either one of my parents, that modern medicine has successfully kept me healthy and happy for the last seventy four years, and hopefully, will continue to keep me alive another decade or so.
ReplyDeleteHey Cubano, thank you for this interesting post. My husband worries a lot about this too--It's an interesting and troubling situation - AI--I think it means that humans are going to have to get way better at managing (productively) leisure time - or non-work time--somehow getting more involved with education and improvement of the planet--Not of the original planet--but of the trashed one--but I am not sure that's how people will choose to spend that time--war, escape, abuse of inebrients, mind-candy, seem more likely choices! Agh! Thanks. k.
ReplyDeleteExcellent points. I get the feeling that those in control don't have a Plan B. It's devil take the hindmost all the way. As far as longevity, I think it's the one-percenters who are living longer, while the underlings are dropping like flies.
ReplyDeleteAnd there's no way R2D2 could ever run this blog!! :)
I am all for techno advancements but not for robots to take over all aspects of our thinking life that eventually we doing nothing meaningful. I look forward to living longer, but in an active state & lifestyle ~ Who knows we can live more than 100 years with robotics in our body, smiles ~
ReplyDeleteGood points! I don't think robots will replace a lot of jobs that require deep thought and human interaction, until artificial intelligence is here to stay. When AI comes, then it's good-bye!
ReplyDeleteWhen computers were introduced many people thought they will lose their jobs. But computer is a reality in our lives and many got employment because of computers. If robots become a reality in our lives, humans will find many more jobs which robots cannot do. There is nothing to worry.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be too sure that there won't be a population decimating pandemic in the future. It could easily happen. I hope that robots will be used wisely to do mostly menial and dangerous work, but then they will probably end up replacing some workers. Interesting issue that most of us probably aren't thinking about enough.
ReplyDeleteI left a comment on your comment but I don't know if you go back...so I'll say it again.
ReplyDeleteThank you, thank you very much..(say that like Elvis would ;)
And you know what this means? Now you have to cough up yours.