
Robots, jobs and the human fear of change - mnmlsm
https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/03/robots-jobs-and-the-human-fear-of-change/
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gradschool
The author points out that technological advance often creates more jobs than
it destroys, but neglects to address the fact that the jobs it creates are
invariably unsuitable for the people who have been put out of work. To imply
that society benefits on balance as a whole in the long run is equivalent to
saying the rest of us will be better off after a disenfranchised segment of
the population dies, which we will at least until further advances cause the
cycle to repeat itself.

He makes a related claim that technology contributes to a trend toward more
interesting and fulfilling work for many people while eliminating mostly the
boring and repetitive jobs, which is also debatable. I met someone who worked
in a betting shop for years at a decent rate of pay until an IT upgrade meant
that no further cognitive skills were required of the staff. As a result,
everyone was fired and replaced by minimum wage workers.

Far from having some irrational fear of change he seems to suggest, people on
the other side of this issue seem to be the more realistic and better informed
parties.

