Ring di Alarm! Tech eating jobs @ record pace

[Don1]

Billionaire Jeff Greene Says Technology Will Kill White-Collar Jobs, Hosts Conference On Inequality


Chase Peterson-Withorn ,FORBES STAFF
I cover billionaires as part of Forbes' wealth team.


Touch-screen ordering at fast food restaurants, robots welding car parts at Tesla factories, apps like Uber taking a bite out of the taxi and limo industry: They’re all good for innovation but perhaps not so great for the workers whose jobs are on the line, according to real estate billionaire Jeff Greene.

“What globalization did to blue collar jobs and the working class economy over the past 30 or 40 years, big data, artificial intelligence and robotics will do to the white collar economy — and at a much, much faster pace,” says Greene.

It’s a problem that will only exacerbate the growing gap between the rich and the poor, he claims, because we’ve left ourselves unprepared for the inevitable automation of many jobs traditionally done by humans.

“I realized that that is the greatest threat we have in our country today,” says Greene. “So I thought, ‘Let’s convene some of the greatest minds from academia, government, business and the nonprofit sector to come together to talk realistically about what’s happening.’”

[Karl]

Billionaire Jeff Greene Says Technology Will Kill White-Collar Jobs, Hosts Conference On Inequality


Chase Peterson-Withorn ,FORBES STAFF
I cover billionaires as part of Forbes' wealth team.


Touch-screen ordering at fast food restaurants, robots welding car parts at Tesla factories, apps like Uber taking a bite out of the taxi and limo industry: They’re all good for innovation but perhaps not so great for the workers whose jobs are on the line, according to real estate billionaire Jeff Greene.

“What globalization did to blue collar jobs and the working class economy over the past 30 or 40 years, big data, artificial intelligence and robotics will do to the white collar economy — and at a much, much faster pace,” says Greene.

It’s a problem that will only exacerbate the growing gap between the rich and the poor, he claims, because we’ve left ourselves unprepared for the inevitable automation of many jobs traditionally done by humans.

“I realized that that is the greatest threat we have in our country today,” says Greene. “So I thought, ‘Let’s convene some of the greatest minds from academia, government, business and the nonprofit sector to come together to talk realistically about what’s happening.’”

...but what about technology raising living standards for all?
Making everything 'cheaper' and more 'available'/accessible'?

Just think on it: If efficiencies are increased a zillion times, costs lowered and access increased zillion times over... Could tomorrow's poor be living and enjoying current middle-class comforts? I think so. ...and it shall be so faster than we think.

OK! ...so what of inequalities?
That shall widen but 'the poor' as it was, is and shall always be; 'poor' compared to what?

[Don1]

...but what about technology raising living standards for all?

What about it?? Simple...It's not happening.

There's a limit to the extent gadgets "raise living standards" or that purchasing cheap tech trinkets denotes real "value". Mass consumption of relatively useless products only give an illusion of "prosperity". That's a big part of the economic model that keeps the US economy "ticking"

What raises real living standards is investments in the basics...education, food security, housing, medical services and infrastructure. Technology can assist with that...but the tech investments flow where it gets the "best" financial return...and it's not necessarily in those basic sectors.

That's the Wall Street financial chicanery model

That's the problem

OK! ...so what of inequalities?
That shall widen but 'the poor' as it was, is and shall always be; 'poor' compared to what?

Not worthy of a substantive response imo

[Islandman]

All of what you have stated is correct. Today's middle class in all but the poorest of countries live a higher standard of living than the richest men of even 100 years ago. The creature comforts, the forms of entertainment, the health and medical options just to name a few that are accessible to today's middle class would only be affordable to the Rockerfellers and Carnegies of yesteryear. I remember Warren Buffett saying once that something as simple as getting a bad tooth extracted today is a minor inconvenience for the average middle class person, while 100 years ago it was a horrendous experience.

However.....

Whenever there is growing inequality there will be growing dissatisfaction. If we feel worse off in relative terms to those at the top then the fact that we are better off in absolute terms is not much consolation. It is human nature. Lionel Richie said when everyone in the Commodores was making $5K a month everyone was happy, but when everyone but him was making $20K a month and he was making $100K a month, there was a lot of dissatisfaction in the group.

For that reason, the issue of inequality will always be an important one to address. The changing economy today could easily create a situation where in terms of inequality we are back in the days of Kings and serfs, even though much fewer people will be in need of the basic things for survival, ie food, clothing and shelter. The inevitable outcome will be social disorder.