Technology, intelligence, and unemployment

Chris Reynolds · 2010-12-21T16:25:51

In case this is "TL;DR" - Basically, I'm saying that as technology becomes more relevant, non-technical people become more irrelevant. And intelligence is a requirement for being relevant in technology. Especially considering the complexity of emerging technologies (quantum/nano) Have we ever considered that, due to advancing technology, intelligence requirements for successful business and employment opportunities are extending beyond the scope of a larger and larger percentage of the population? Remember, schools don't make people more intelligent, only smarter (there is a difference).I don't think this perspective is new, but I think there is a very big point that isn't included in mainstream debate about future unemployment. Currently, we keep waiting for the economy to "turn around". We assume that any increase in unemployment will be equally returned by a break in the economy. However, I believe that what likely powers a boost in the economy will send unemployment rates even higher - technology.The growth of technology, and the required intelligence to navigate the business of it, are leaving a progressively larger population irrelevant. Initially we watched manufacturing cities turn to dust; skills that drove the economy 10-20 years ago, now can hardly put food on the table (if there is any need for them at all). Even today many students consider learned knowledge in their field obsolete by the time they graduate college.What about when Silicon Valley becomes Quantum Valley? What about when a large number of fields yield to nanotechnology? Every advancement in technology (assuming it's in demand) swallows a sector of the "working class" and excludes a larger population from participating. The examples I refer to in this post, quantum computing and nanotechnology, aren't exactly amateur friendly. You won't find a Steve Jobs building a personal quantum computer in his garage.You could argue that a sufficient percentage of the general population has caught up with the progression of science and technology in the past, but my point is that I think that is changing. Now I'm not bashing technology, I absolutely love the implications of a quantum and nanotechnology race. I also know that there are many bright students preparing to hit the ground running in these subjects. But what about the other 90% of the country that will likely lose there jobs or be unable to adapt to these advanced technologies?Also, how will this manifest itself in democracy? Certainly if high brow technology takes over enough low brow work we will see a backlash politically.[Edited by - Chris Reynolds on December 19, 2010 11:22:02 PM]

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Started by Chris Reynolds December 19, 2010 10:55 PM

31 comments, last by Alpha_ProgDes 14 years, 2 months ago

way2lazy2care

793

December 21, 2010 03:02 PM

Quote:
Original post by tstrimp
Another thought... If very few people had to work, would crime go up? Not violent crime, but vandalism and such simply due to boredom.

think of the loitering ticket revenue!

Esys

156

December 21, 2010 04:13 PM

The fastest growing job sector seems to be Human Resource. Those smug, sly bastards are everywhere.

Alpha_ProgDes

6,963

December 21, 2010 04:25 PM

There will be definitely a rise in: engineers, mechanics, and repairmen.

And what kind of robots are we talking about? factory machine robots (programmed to do a set, deterministic, finite number of tasks repeatedly) or varying degrees of AI robots?

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Technology, intelligence, and unemployment

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