Executive Director and Senior Futurist at DaVinci Institute, Author: Communicating with the Future
Teacherless Education, Driverless Cars, and Workerless Businesses: Are we losing our humanity or reclaiming it?
By 2030 over 2 billion jobs will disappear, roughly 50% of all jobs on the planet. Contrary to what you may think, this isn’t a doom and gloom prediction. Rather, it is a wakeup call for the world, as we prepare for rapid societal change, unlike anything we’ve encountered in the past.
Nearly every physical task, done by humans today, can conceivably be automated and done by machines at some point in the future. Fishing bots will replace fishermen. Mining bots will replace miners. Ag bots will replace farmers. Inspection bots will replace human inspectors. Warrior drones will replace soldiers.
However, every advancement comes with its own set of unintended consequences. The more we rely on technology, the more breaking points we’ll have to contend with. Driverless cars that deliver people can also deliver bombs and illicit drugs. Automated machines that can build buildings can also destroy buildings. As we eliminate physical labor, the same technology that is used to improve our lives is also making us fat, dumb, and lazy. As a result, the problems we thought we were solving are giving rise to a whole new set of challenges that are far more complicated.
With this path that we are on, are we losing our humanity or reclaiming it?
Read Dr Thomas Frey’s Biography