Lots of talk last year about two books written by Yuval Noah Harari - Sapiens (a brief history of Humankind) and Homo Deus (a brief history of tomorrow). They look pretty heavy-going to me so I've not got round to reading them. Then, thanks to the good old BBC, along came 'The Inquiry' a programme where experts discuss issues of the day. And, low and behold, a guest speaker was none other than Yuval Noah Harari himself who described in simple terms that which I'd not had the courage to tackle in the full book form.
Most interesting ... surprising ... chilling was his perspective on how our human future could pan out over the next century or so. How inequality is very likely to get worse because automation and artificial intelligence will take over the work of many people so that whole swathes of formerly working people will become redundant - dispensible! He points out that universal education and healthcare weren't introduced because the wealthy and powerful were feeling kind but because there was a need for an educated workforce and military. Now that need is diminishing (with jobs and the military becoming increasingly automated) education and healthcare are likely to fall by the wayside. And, of course, isn't that already happening?
Harari says that his description of how things could turn out is only speculative but that if we are to prevent ever increasing inequality and huge numbers of people becoming superflous to the requirements of the wealthy and powerful elite then we need to understand the possibilities and take action.
You might like to listen - 'Is Inequality About to get Unimaginably Worse?' - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p050kvnz
Most interesting ... surprising ... chilling was his perspective on how our human future could pan out over the next century or so. How inequality is very likely to get worse because automation and artificial intelligence will take over the work of many people so that whole swathes of formerly working people will become redundant - dispensible! He points out that universal education and healthcare weren't introduced because the wealthy and powerful were feeling kind but because there was a need for an educated workforce and military. Now that need is diminishing (with jobs and the military becoming increasingly automated) education and healthcare are likely to fall by the wayside. And, of course, isn't that already happening?
Harari says that his description of how things could turn out is only speculative but that if we are to prevent ever increasing inequality and huge numbers of people becoming superflous to the requirements of the wealthy and powerful elite then we need to understand the possibilities and take action.
You might like to listen - 'Is Inequality About to get Unimaginably Worse?' - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p050kvnz
Interesting.
ReplyDeleteThere have been lots of reports recently predicting the impact of AI on jobs, the ones I'm aware of include predictions of 30-50% of current jobs going in developed economies, happening already but these figures are 10-20 year range predictions, scary! I tend to think advanced education and creativity are the main protection for individuals.
Not something on the current election agenda interestingly, it seems the usual claim of security as the number one responsibility of government doesn't extend to personal life security.
At least the sun's out!
Yes, it is pretty scary but as Bernie Sanders says: Despair is not an option! Perhaps the scariest part of Harari's speculation is that huge numbers of people will just become dispensible. I guess that means they can be left to die as is already happening to those poor refugees drowning in the Mediterranean who are barely mentioned in our media. Perhaps the bottom line is that Planet Earth isn't able to support billions of people living the 'American dream' lifestyle, so those in a position of power will hang on to their good life and let everyone else drown, die of starvation or get blown up. Clever hey?!
DeleteThat was a really interesting broadcast; great link!
ReplyDeleteThe idea of information being controlled by the few, and most people being controlled by algorithms beyond the comprehension of the organisations using them offers a potential advantage.
Humans are able to completely change paradigms, which then renders information monopolies obsolete e.g. if banks turn good customers down for loans, we can decide to strengthen local credit unions.
More radically, why not pass legislation to make all personal medical, genome, financial and activity data inviolably and permanently owned by the individual, no matter what they sign or "accept by use"?
Cheers, Nick.
Good to get your comment Nick. I generally write my blog cos it's a good way of getting stuff off my chest but it is always great when I get some feed-back. Your mention of passing legislation to protect our personal data takes me to some dark thoughts: I tend to believe that our democracy is a sham, that corporate interests take priority and that the only legislation which is passed it that which protects and enhances the powerful position of the financial elite. Is that just too paranoid?
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