Let's talk about the future.

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

So, in the universal basic income thread, I raised the topic of technological advancements in AI and robotics and posited that this technological change is fundamentally different than previous ones. I'd like to dig a bit deeper into that topic while discussing remediation of the effects. I watch a lot of TED talks which invariably lead down a rabbit-hole to further reading on subjects, so I figure this would be a good place to start.

 

The first of the two videos I chose to start with features Andrew McAfee, a MIT and Harvard grad who writes on the business impacts of technology. He raised some interesting questions, and provides an explanation of why this technological revolution is fundamentally different than that brought about by the industrial revolution:

 

 

The second video I wanted to share with you is from Jeremy Howard, the founder of Strategic Data Science and a professor at university of San Francisco. He discusses why machine learning is different at a base level from other technological discoveries, and why this something we should be concerned about:

 

 

I'm generally a believer in capitalism, and mostly free markets. But I think there's a real issue brewing on the near-term horizon that's going to require a change in thinking both in this country and in the rest of the world. When human labor becomes unnecessary, what do you do with people? How do you engage them to keep them involved in society? How do you provide people worth in life when their work no longer provides it?

 

I'm interested to hear your answers, and also to view any reading/viewing resources you can come up with. Thanks.

 

[LeviF]

Prepare to have your parts harvested, meatbag.

[boyst]

That's so much reading