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In After Capitalism, we’ve talked about the pivotal role of technology in moving toward the three images. Technology is central to Tech-Led Abundance and a potential key enabler to Circular Commons and Non-Workers Paradise. Currently AI is viewed as a workplace problem as we are concerned about people losing their jobs via AI and automation. There had been relatively little government policy or regulatory support to address this potential. And it now appears that we are “full speed ahead” on AI and damn the consequences.
So where will this take us? It will soon move from a “problem” for employers to a society at large. I remember working on a self-driving vehicle project back in 2016 and looking at the potential applications in freight and trucking, and being a bit surprised that the sector was the 13th largest employer in the US. Imagine just wiping out a job sector this big! Massive social implications. And, it seems, we are just getting started.
To be clear, I believe post-work is a good thing and a sensible goal. Non-Workers Paradise envisions the future and sees it as a good thing. BUT, we have to really smart and careful about how we get there. I’ve written previously about tool-itis, our warped relationship with tools, in which we view tools as the magic answer instead of seeing them as aids to our thinking.
This is especially critical in the age of AI, which right now is an abbreviation for Average Intelligence. What we’re getting back is is the average of a large sample size … not critical, creative, or strategic thinking … and that’s what we need. If we get lazy and use AI to provide answers for us, rather than its proper use as input to answers, then we will indeed see a massive and painful job loss — and a very nasty social problem. If used wisely, AI as Augmented Intelligence, it could be the great enabler of Tech-Led Abundance. The choice is ours! — Andy Hines
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