Automation, AI, and robotics are the real forces behind the disruption to the global job market, and they will accelerate in 2017
The 4 tech trends that will shape 2017, predicted by ZDNet editors — Nice read but only Item #1 is important — zdnet.com
1. Automation becomes the elephant in the room - by Jason Hiner, global long form editor
For all the talk about artificial intelligence, robotics, and machine learning in 2016, the shadow that they cast--the real thing people are afraid of--is automation. We're teaching computers how to do more and more things that we used to need humans to do, and in some cases to do things on a scale that we've never had enough human capacity to attempt.
That's going to enable us to understand, measure, and manage human society in ways that we're never possible before. It's going to make us more efficient, allow us to innovate faster, and make better decisions than we ever thought we could handle.
It's also going to make millions of current jobs redundant and unnecessarily.
That doesn't mean AI and automation can do everything. Far from it. It's great at rote, systematic, and essentially boring tasks, especially ones that involve massive data sets. It's not good at designing and architecting systems, interpreting ambiguity and gray areas, or making judgement calls when the data doesn't present a clear winner between multiple options.
In short, AI is not good at complex problem solving. And nothing makes humans more human than solving problems. It's how we reached the top of the food chain over creatures stronger and faster than us. It's how we've reshaped much of the planet in magnificent--and sometimes dangerous--ways.
The power of automation is the next great turning point in the human story, and we're not talking about it enough yet. We're not planning and exploring what it means to the future of our civilization.
The rhetoric of the 2016 US presidential campaign and the Brexit vote in the UK both all but ignored it -- even though it was the real force behind the changes that mobilized so many angry voters in 2016.
That will no longer be possible in 2017. All talk of trade deals, tariffs, and short term investments are band-aids that won't stop the impact of automation, and that will become evident quickly enough. That doesn't mean we shouldn't put a few band-aids on sores or take cough medicine to curb an illness. But, we need to change our behavior and find a much stronger remedy to forge a path toward true health. Let the exploration begin.
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