With every ticking second, a machine has come one step closer to taking your job. With each sweep of the minute hand, a computer algorithm successfully completes a new task for the first time. Each hour, new robots of such complexity come online, formerly only the imaginings of science fiction. Each day, mankind inches closer to quantum computing. Month by month, year by year, we are working diligently, tirelessly, to design and build that which will replace us.
This isn’t some pie in the sky, someday maybe, pipe dream. The ultimate rendition of computational prowess, artificial intelligence, does not have to even factor in to the progress that is being made in everyday software. This is the software being adopted by financial institutions, by medical facilities, by defense contractors, by governments. These advances are becoming more prevalent, and they’re moving into places that were once though safe from the intrusions of technology.
Yes, we can buy a robot to replace John who welds mufflers. Why wouldn’t we? But how about a piece of code to replace Malcolm, a middle manager with corporate aspirations? Why don’t we remove him and put in in place something that isn’t even physically real. There’s a reason why the BBC, Forbes, and the Harvard Business Review have all run articles on this topic. The code is coming, and it’s going to change how we do business on a day to day basis. As the technology creeps upwards, more and more workers will have to adapt or die.
This isn’t some pie in the sky, someday maybe, pipe dream. The ultimate rendition of computational prowess, artificial intelligence, does not have to even factor in to the progress that is being made in everyday software. This is the software being adopted by financial institutions, by medical facilities, by defense contractors, by governments. These advances are becoming more prevalent, and they’re moving into places that were once though safe from the intrusions of technology.
Yes, we can buy a robot to replace John who welds mufflers. Why wouldn’t we? But how about a piece of code to replace Malcolm, a middle manager with corporate aspirations? Why don’t we remove him and put in in place something that isn’t even physically real. There’s a reason why the BBC, Forbes, and the Harvard Business Review have all run articles on this topic. The code is coming, and it’s going to change how we do business on a day to day basis. As the technology creeps upwards, more and more workers will have to adapt or die.
These articles, however, are limited in scope, offering suggestions on how to cope with this shift in the workplace and how to remain relevant. But here’s the thing about technology: we have made it relentless. We have created something unstoppable. We have decided, much as we did during the gold rush, during Manifest Destiny, during the Roaring ‘20s, during the Dotcom Boom, that growth for the sake of growth is something to be pursued, to be worshiped. We are designing and building our own obsolescence.
Terminator 3 and all related characters and content are property of Warner Bros. Pictures.
The cold, hard truth is that technology is a type of Pandora’s Box. What is interesting, though, is that despite the speed at which it moves, we seem to accept it more readily. Rather than forming a greater resistance as the pace of change increases, we seem to accept our fate, or else simply ignore it. It’s probably safe to surmise that the scale on which these changes are happening is beyond what people are willing and able to process in their everyday lives, and so it goes on unnoticed. An SVP has an idea for a new piece of trading software, engineers are put to the task, and the next thing you know that SVP is wondering when the computers took his decision making away from him, along with his job. We seem incapable to trace the links back to the source.
Without sounding too depressing, I would even put forward that we may have reached a state of permanent technoshock, one so deep seated and omnipresent that we have no choice but to put our heads down and ignore it. For the number of people I’ve seen go on medical leave for stress, I would say the anxiety of technological advancement is simply outpacing the ability of their brains to keep pace. In the future we may not have to work anymore because of robotics, hardware, and software. In that same future, we may find ourselves wishing we were allowed to work.
A.C. Harrison is the author of "Jupiter Symphony" and promised to have this article up last Wednesday, but he’s a liar and/or a piece of software designed to mimic a human.
Like what you see here? Spread the word and support indie authors! Follow me on Facebook or Twitter. Find me on Smashwords and Kindlemojo.
Without sounding too depressing, I would even put forward that we may have reached a state of permanent technoshock, one so deep seated and omnipresent that we have no choice but to put our heads down and ignore it. For the number of people I’ve seen go on medical leave for stress, I would say the anxiety of technological advancement is simply outpacing the ability of their brains to keep pace. In the future we may not have to work anymore because of robotics, hardware, and software. In that same future, we may find ourselves wishing we were allowed to work.
A.C. Harrison is the author of "Jupiter Symphony" and promised to have this article up last Wednesday, but he’s a liar and/or a piece of software designed to mimic a human.
Like what you see here? Spread the word and support indie authors! Follow me on Facebook or Twitter. Find me on Smashwords and Kindlemojo.
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