White collar woes

"For those who think this is a bunch of hogwash and AI is only a canard, better do some more research on this matter. Not only is AI happening, but it is evolving even faster than most predicted. We are all of us, entering unchartered territory. Will our future be bright or dimming? I guess we will all find out together." 

Go to college. Get a degree in something which will land you in middle management. Keep your nose clean, and you should be fine. Safe. Work at that job until retirement. Okay - that fairy tale has not been true for decades. It was at one time, but no longer. And now that many have survived downsizing, rightsizing, outsourcing, you name it - along comes the threat that many white-collar jobs might not survive. Artificial Intelligence.

What does the future hold for the soon to be new adults? Go to college? Maybe - if you can major in something AI related. Or some another developing industry. But here are the landmines. If the job you cherish or covet is something which can be handled by automation by AI now or in the near future - run away from it. Go back to school and get at technical degree. Those jobs will be safe (for now). But know this - many of the jobs from yesterday, as well as some of the jobs from today - are going bye-bye. Never to return.

What happened this month at Amazon and Target as well as others, were just canaries in the coal mine. It was a harbinger of things to come. And not just here in America - this will happen all over the world. Why? AI will be evolving into AGI (Artificial General Intelligence), and then ASI (Artificial Super Intelligence). Long gone will be the days of Siri and Alexia. We will be entering the days of Hal and Sky Net instead.

What is the big draw for a company to use AI instead of human based touch labor? Cost mostly. No benefits. No sick days. No union strikes. No lunch hours. No coming in late nor leaving early. Plus, the work product will be virtually error free. Scrap and attrition will be miniscule. Labor, which has always been a big part of cost of goods produced, now will be smaller and very manageable.

Meanwhile, we will have legions of people who will be unemployed and unemployable in our new reality. Like I said earlier, some jobs will exist for those in a very narrow field of expertise - but most will be on the outside looking in. Paying people (just enough) to live on will be more normal than abnormal. Are our schools getting kids ready to this new reality? Not even close. In fact, it is never even mentioned. 

For those who think this is a bunch of hogwash and AI is only a canard, better do some more research on this matter. Not only is AI happening, but it is evolving even faster than most predicted. We are all of us, entering unchartered territory. Will our future be bright or dimming? I guess we will all find out together.