In this site, we like to talk about the Future of Work. What will work be like in ? Will it be very different from today? In that case, it is likely work will not exist. AI and robots will be able to do whatever we are capable of doing but faster and better. There would be no need to employ armies of specialists in different disciplines, organized into hierarchies of contractors and subcontractors, in order to carry out a project. All embodiments of general-purpose AI would have access to all the knowledge and skills of the human race, and more besides.
If this becomes true, it will be a time of abundance. We will not need to work anymore and we will have all our basic needs covered, but as it has been the case throughout all history, some people will have access to more abundance than others and this will probably be an extremely unequal society, unless we do something to remedy it now.
However, it is not certain that this world will become true. Like the already mentioned Kai-Fu Lee, some authors believe we are far from this scenario and that there will still be jobs for humans.
The number of jobs that machines will do better than us will increase considerably, but there will still be jobs requiring a human touch and emotion. What humans crave most is what machines will not be able to provide: love and human connection. Whether jobs exist or have disappeared altogether, what seems clear is that we will probably have much more free time in In a society like ours, where careers and jobs play such an essential role in providing us with meaning, social status, and economic worth, there will have to be a total change of mindset, even a new paradigm.
Like Ancient Greeks or wealthy nobles throughout history, we will have to find ways to enjoy all our available leisure time. Looking at the latest trends, we will probably spend most of our free time staring at a screen or immersed in a virtual world playing games and having virtual sex.
Still, people will also spend more time learning new skills, following artistic pursuits, and unleashing their creative instincts.
We may see a new flourishing of the arts and creativity, a modern Renaissance perhaps? Will there be a human colony on Mars by ? Will we have found a Theory of Everything in physics? Who knows. Will we know for sure whether there is life after death? Maybe another time…. I find it exciting to think about and reflect on the future. We have agency over it, but we need to start building it today.
Depending on the actions we take now, the world will be slightly or intolerably warmer at the end of this century, or the world population will go up to 9 or maybe 11 billion people. Depending on the politicians we vote for and other actions we take, we will have one type of world order, based on collaboration and cooperation, or a completely different one, based on confrontation and war.
Finally, depending on our decisions as leaders, employees, founders, shareholders, consumers, and clients, we will build more or less human and humane workplaces and societies.
We can use the exponentially growing advances in technology to maximise our potential as a species, increase our living standards, and live more fulfilling lives, or alienate ourselves, exploit one another, and increase human suffering.
Which one will it be? I hope we choose wisely. Clearly we need to expand the time scale with which we assess the full implications of the climate crisis beyond the current century. Instead, the temperature control will be locked in and all life forms on Earth will be pressured to adapt for thousands of years. The climate change-driven ecological destruction that we are witnessing today — immeasurable loss of human life, plant and animal species caused by natural disasters such as floods, droughts, wildfires and heat waves, the disappearance of vast snow caps, glaciers and almost half of the Arctic — is the result of a mere 0.
We can only imagine what a further 1. It belongs to neither a particular individual nor a particular nation. Nor does it belong to a single generation such as us, our children or our grandchildren. Instead, it belongs to all living creatures both alive now and in the future. Yet the political and economic institutions of our civilisation are fixated on enjoying the present and unable to account for the consequences of our actions on tomorrow. This may be all too easily observed in our financial behaviour, where individuals, corporations and governments are forever borrowing from the future in order to improve the present.
In the same way, the fossil fuelled party of our capitalist global civilisation is in the midst of a financial and ecological borrowing frenzy from the future. In addition, scientists will be preparing the first starship capable of leaving the solar system and visiting the nearest stars. New propulsion systems, perhaps involving antimatter or fusion engines, will take us there.
By the end of the century, we may have a small outpost on Mars, but an overwhelming proportion of the human race will still be on earth. For decades to centuries to come, space travel will be for astronauts, the wealthy, and maybe a handful of hardy space colonists. With advanced technology also will come advanced dangers, especially biological warfare, nuclear proliferation, and global warming.
Science is a double-edged sword. One side can cut against poverty, disease, and ignorance, but the other side can cut against people unless it is properly controlled.
Global warming will become even more disastrous, as rising sea levels inundate many American coastal communities, and some cities, such as New York, take refuge by surrounding themselves with seawalls. Biological terrorists will get more sophisticated and most likely will be able to make viral diseases, like AIDS, airborne.
Since chips and robots will replace a wide variety of products and occupations, millions could lose their jobs, and the economy could be thrown into turmoil. By Michio Kaku, based on his book Physics of the Future. Story originally appeared in the New York Post.
Used with permission. All rights reserved. Skip to header Skip to main content Skip to footer Feature. Just a few of the predictions in my book Physics of the Future include: 1. Myanmar sentences U. Myanmar Coup. Belarus threatens to cut off Europe's Russian gas amid escalating tensions. Winter is Coming.
Eastern Europe's vaccine hesitancy problem. Most Popular. Follow us:. By Jared Lindzon 7 minute Read. Less work, more play When work is as much about reaching your potential and pursuing your passions as it is about earning a living, measuring productivity in hours and minutes will seem arcane. Redefining leadership In a future that emphasizes getting the most out of the individual, and where the individual is driven by passion, Kunter believes the concept of leadership will be synonymous with motivation.
The only constant is change While both futurists stand behind their predictions they qualify them with a healthy dose of skepticism, suggesting ways in which their vision of the future may fall flat. Impact Impact Only 2 of 52 top oil and gas companies have science-based climate targets Impact By , the U.
0コメント