What will happen when computers and robots in the workplace cause catastrophic unemployment?
Answers
Answered by
0
Its very hard to predict. This kind of transition could have massive and unforeseeable effects on all the societies in the world. It could also do very different things to different countries. I doubt people will react to automation in Norway the same way they will in the United States. Here are some cases that I think are probable. Normal people won't be able to make money but will still need it. The wealthy few who invested in robots (or whose ancestors invested in them) will own near 100% of society's resources. The rest will either die out or live on handouts. The world will turn into aristocracy as the rich have no need of the poor and gain full control of government. Rebellions may occur. If they occur late in the process they will likely be crushed easily crushed military robots and advanced A.I.
- Again the wealthy will take control of most of societies resources. However, to promote stability they will continue to hire people to work makework jobs that contribute nothing to the economy. People will continue to work for no real reason in order to "justify" their existences. Most people will have a similar level of wages as they do today with the rich becoming richer.
- Automation will be severely limited by regulation or just turn out to be much harder than we thought. Limited automation will cause unemployment but it will be manageable. This may be sustainable in the short term but is more likely to be a temporary state.
- Automation generates a huge amount of wealth but also creates unemployment. Governments take notice. They raise taxes and use the increased revenue from the automation to produce an increasingly strong safety net. At first this involves helping the newly unemployed survive and trying to reeducate them to do more advanced jobs. As the advanced jobs start to disappear this will eventually transition into simply being paid enough by the government to live. In the end the owners of robots will still be very rich. The masses will be able to live nice lives and not have to work. It's unclear how well they will adapt to this massive amount of leisure time
- Again the wealthy will take control of most of societies resources. However, to promote stability they will continue to hire people to work makework jobs that contribute nothing to the economy. People will continue to work for no real reason in order to "justify" their existences. Most people will have a similar level of wages as they do today with the rich becoming richer.
- Automation will be severely limited by regulation or just turn out to be much harder than we thought. Limited automation will cause unemployment but it will be manageable. This may be sustainable in the short term but is more likely to be a temporary state.
- Automation generates a huge amount of wealth but also creates unemployment. Governments take notice. They raise taxes and use the increased revenue from the automation to produce an increasingly strong safety net. At first this involves helping the newly unemployed survive and trying to reeducate them to do more advanced jobs. As the advanced jobs start to disappear this will eventually transition into simply being paid enough by the government to live. In the end the owners of robots will still be very rich. The masses will be able to live nice lives and not have to work. It's unclear how well they will adapt to this massive amount of leisure time
Similar questions