The Future of Work summary

Steven Mnuchin, the Trump administration’s treasury secretary, told the press that he isn’t concerned about AI as he believes it won’t be a factor until 50 or 100 years from now. Others aren’t so quick to brush off the immediate concerns surrounding AI.

According to Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, AI poses one of the greatest risks to civilization and can certainly be a cause of great disruption to the job market.

A major component in the digital economy will be the Internet of Things (IoT). Made possible by the high connection speeds of the fifth generation (5G) internet network, the IoT is when entire systems of physical goods and household objects become connected and can be monitored and adjusted in real time.

For example, your smartwatch could be used to track vital health statistics that are monitored by a physician who could periodically advise you to cut down on your sugar intake or drink more water.

According to MIT economist, Andrew McAfee, we should expect most of the jobs currently available to be replaced by automated services at some point in the future. The jobs that are more likely to continue existing are interpersonal ones like mental health therapy and social work.

This brings us to one of the primary changes we need to make in order to prepare for the new economy, which is to rethink and broaden our definition of which jobs are worthy of receiving a wage and benefits like insurance and a pension.

Back in 1954, union boss Walter Reuther was visiting a Ford Motors plant that had recently installed new robotic machines on the factory line. A Ford employee asked Reuther how he planned on getting union dues from the robots, to which Reuther replied, “How are you going to get them to buy Fords?”

This anecdote cuts right to the problem of a changing workforce: When workers are displaced by companies eager to cut costs and raise productivity, it doesn’t just mean there are fewer people working, it also means they’re making less money and are therefore less likely to buy the products sold by the company.

As we can see, society needs to prepare for the job displacement many economists anticipate. Yet there is very little discussion happening on Capitol Hill.

A big reason why few politicians are paying attention to the growing threat of automation is the extremely polarized nature of today’s politics. Getting a fiercely partisan Congress to agree on anything, never mind broad changes to fundamental programs like unemployment insurance or creating new employment options, is virtually impossible.

The societal impact of automation is already being felt. As it currently stands, many new businesses are worsening the wealth inequality in the United States. Thanks to automation, they have relatively few full-time employees, meaning that only a small group is reaping the earnings.

To prevent an unemployment crisis and dangerous levels of social unrest, the United States needs to enact social and political reforms.