Suddenly, it seems, people in all walks of life are becoming very concerned about advancing automation. “How will they compete against a much older and experienced workforce vying for even fewer positions?” “How will they compete against AI?” she asked. Familiar as she is with the upside of computerization, the downside looms large. Inevitably, some will step forward by creating next-generation machines and finding new ways for them to augment human strengths.Īfter hearing of a recent Oxford University study on advancing automation and its potential to displace workers, Yuh-Mei Hutt, of Tallahassee, Florida, wrote, “The idea that half of today’s jobs may vanish has changed my view of my children’s future.” Hutt was reacting not only as a mother she heads a business and occasionally blogs about emerging technologies. Some will step in, monitoring and adjusting computers’ decision making others will step narrowly into highly specialized realms of expertise. Some knowledge workers will step up to even higher levels of cognition others will step aside and draw on forms of intelligence that machines lack. But if we reframe the use of machines as augmentation, human work can flourish and accomplish what was never before possible. The outlook is grim if computers continue to chip away relentlessly at the tasks currently performed by well-educated people. Today, as artificial intelligence encroaches on knowledge work, it can be hard to see how humans will remain employed in large numbers. And, inevitably, some will step forward, by creating next-generation machines and finding new ways for them to augment the human strengths of workers.Īutomation has traditionally displaced workers, forcing them onto higher ground that machines have not yet claimed. Some will step narrowly into very specialized realms of expertise. Some will step in, to monitor and adjust computers’ decision making. Some will step aside, drawing on forms of intelligence that machines lack. Some will step up to even higher levels of cognition, where machines can’t follow. They have been examining cases in which knowledge workers collaborate with machines to do things that neither could do well on their own-and they’ve found that smart people will be able to take five approaches to making their peace with smart machines. What if, the authors ask, we were to reframe the situation? What if we were to uncover new feats that people might achieve if they had better thinking machines to assist them? We could reframe the threat of automation as an opportunity for augmentation.

People in all walks of life are rightly concerned about advancing automation: Unless we find as many tasks to give humans as we find to take away from them, all the social and psychological ills of joblessness will grow, from economic recession to youth unemployment to individual crises of identity.

Sample code zero robotics 2015