What is the major difference between the current and forthcoming transformation to automation performed by AI in the early 21st century and the transformation to automation performed by the human working class in the early 20th century, other than that the latter will be performed by computers while the former was performed by humans?
Perhaps the existential issues and torsion we face today at the dawn of the technological age generally, and the sub-age of AI automation more specifically, are merely the typical rejection of change reactions that assembly line automation faced a century ago…and the dawn of scientific examination before that, and the concept of a round Earth before that, and on and on.
A massive pool of humanity used to doing work and having been trained from school age that toil = self worth, now faces a potential future largely devoid of mechanistic toil and is thus desperate to find a new sense of value. If work can be automated by computers, does that not free humans up to use the seemingly limitless capacity of our large and dynamic brains to focus on and further other areas of thought, art, science, etc?
Perhaps we lagged in adequate preparation, both mental and physical, for this industrial to technological transition in 21st century generations. We persevered with education under a model invented in post WWII America created to indoctrinate a large working and consumer class rather than identifying the coming technological age and adjusting accordingly in say the 1990’s.
In short we’ve utilized antiquated training methods to create a bunch of hammers when there are very few nails. A nailless hammer lies listless on the ground, where we both literally and figuratively find many of our youth today. In a nation with the most abundance, most peace, and least overall insecurities in history, we also find the most depression, most suicide, most drug use, most homelessness, and high rates of general social infighting and unrest. Why?
Perhaps where we failed is not in any sense of need based metrics, but rather in training these 21st century generations, again both literally and figuratively, for the technological future that is now here, and divorcing the idea of toil from self worth.
If so, what is the new value of human self as AI begins to exponentially automate basic and eventually advanced functions of work? Where do we find, how do we articulate, and when do we shift to the new paradigm? Surely we can, humanity after all was not necessarily made to toil away endlessly, but was built at its base to survive.
Can we shake the primal urge to attack when threatened by change - as we’ve done for millennia - or devoid of toil will we generate conflict and thrust ourselves into a scenario of war that both creates and scratches that familiar itch of the survival instinct? Put differently, do we finally evolve to something higher, or simply revolve, and thus repeat another evolution on the well worn and plotted wheel of human history?
The future has arrived as it always does, yet we feel unprepared as we always do. What next?
*Reading Recommendation - consider checking out Martin Gurri’s Revolt of the Public. I’m most of the way through and it is a compelling analysis of the rise of disparate information delivery systems via the Internet and how the loss of control over media has drastically changed the playing field of state gov’t vs the public.
A great piece of writing, Will, and a really interesting commentary on the relentless evolution of human progress.
"divorcing the idea of toil from self worth." 🎯 my therapist would be proud of this
"What next?" At times it feels as though the future is not one way or another but a combination of A LOT of different angles, blended together in a dynamic way. This keeps us adaptive and dare i say -- surviving. So it wouldn't be to reject AI altogether ALL the time, but instead, adopt it in spots and not in others.