Here I am, a little more than half-way through a media studies graduate program I entered for many reasons. You can review most of them in earlier posts, but one significant reason was (and is) starting the next phase in my career. I chose a subject about which I’ve always been passionate, a program that provided flexibility, and a curriculum that would offer some tangible skills in the short and long terms. As I type, I’m excited about completing my first website for my interactive design class and discussing the most recent readings and articles in Managing Creativity in the Media Arts.
I’ve embraced the fact that what I’ll be doing in 10, 20, or 40 years, may not necessarily exist yet. And I’m coming to terms with the fact that my career path is more likely to resemble an unmarked woodland trail than a straight shot on any highway. Indeed it certainly does already. But I’m taking steps now to buttress my future. I’ve started volunteering at the Media Center, and am taking advantage of networking and industry insider events through school. Because I’m human, I stress about my unknown future at times, but I’m doing the work, and I tend to believe that things are going to work out in the end.*
It is with this mindset, that I came across and offer up the video Humans Need Not Apply by CGP Grey. In 15 minutes, it describes how robots will eliminate the need for humans in most segments of the work force. It touches upon labor of course, but then goes on to describe how white collar, professional, and even super special snowflake creative career paths will also be replaced. The question is not “if,” but “when,” followed by “how.”
The video concludes:
“Horses aren’t unemployed now because they got lazy as a species, they’re unemployable… We need to start thinking about what to do now when large sections of the population are unemployable through no fault of their own. What to do in a future where for most jobs, humans need not apply.”
My proclivity for the sentimental wants to argue that robots cannot offer human connection; the bonds we form with others, the joys and sorrows we share, etc.. etc.. But then I imagine a robot can easily send a charge to our neurons, and fire synapses which replicate the stimulation caused by human contact.
When automation takes over the jobs that currently run our economy, what will society look like? What task can we assign value that can’t be replicated or simplified by bots? What aspects of our humanity will we prize? And most importantly, how can we start building and preparing for that today? It’s certainly something to think about.
*I recognize this outlook is based on my past life experiences, and that it is a privilege to hold such a belief system.
a nik at knight production 