The Future of the Professions summary

If you need to seek the advice of a lawyer, do you worry first about the cost? It’s not an unreasonable concern. Many people simply can’t afford the services of a professional.

Many countries as a result find it difficult to maintain a high level of quality in professional services, as funds are often lacking to support schools and hospitals, for example.

The last time you felt ill, how long did you wait before you saw a doctor? Plenty of people put off seeking the help of a professional. Yet soon, such concerns might not be a problem anymore.

Thanks to technology, we’re entering into an age of easier access to professional services.

Few people enjoy the process of filing taxes. Each year, laws change and it becomes harder and harder for the average citizen to keep up with new, ever more complicated regulations.

In the United States alone, tax regulations are updated an average of once per day. Each year, it’s estimated that some 6.1 billion hours are spent filing taxes. That’s equivalent to three million people working full time.

Modern technological systems are powerful, thanks the growth in computational power over the years. This has led to groundbreaking advances in the crunching of enormous data sets, a process known as big data.

Big data techniques can identify and predict patterns in very large data sets. This sort of processing power is highly valuable in today’s data-rich world.

You don’t lose what you know when you share your knowledge with someone else. Unlike physical goods, knowledge is nonrival, meaning its value doesn’t decrease when it's shared.

In fact, the opposite occurs. Knowledge actually grows when it’s shared.

As technology progresses, more and more tasks will be performed by non-specialists with the assistance of digitized processes and systems.

Computer-aided design (CAD) software, for instance, enables hobby architects to design more detailed, complex projects. Resulting designs can be more easily shared and reused than can traditional hand-drawn plans. Digitization also helps to cut costs.

The traditional role of a professional as gatekeeper to exclusive information in a certain field is long over. So what does the future hold?

We should first remember that as a society, we shouldn’t be afraid of new technology. Instead focusing on the potential of technology should be our common goal.