What will happen to humans if "work" disappears from the world?

"The evolution of robots and artificial intelligence forces human work to be deprivedAlthough there is an opinion that, "The job is gone" in most occupations is still ahead. However, by looking back on what happened in Youngstown in Ohio, which once flourished as a steel town but now turned into a ghost town,The future where work disappearedYou might be able to think about what will happen.

A World Without Work - The Atlantic
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/07/world-without-work/395294/


For most of the twentieth century, the steel mill in Youngstown had a great success. At that time, Youngstown boasted a higher average income and ownership rate than other American cities, and it was a longing for many people as a typical model of the American dream.

However, as the production of steel gradually shifted overseas after the Second World War, Youngstown was driven into a difficult economic situation, and in September 1977 it was based on Youngstown as "Youngstown Sheet & TubeAnnounced that the manufacturing plant will be stopped. Only five years later, 50 thousand workers living in the town will lose their jobs.

Youngstown could not respond to economic turmoil, nor could it respond to psychological and cultural collapse. Abuse and suicide spread in town due to recession, the number of mental health centers tripled in 10 years, and four prisons were built in the middle of 1990.

"The story of Youngstown is also a story of the whole American because it is a good case to show that cultural links will be destroyed in that place when there is no work, The collapse in general is a much bigger problem than the economic collapse, "says John Russo, a laboratory research at Youngstown State University.

ByOhio Redevelopment Projects - ODSA

Looking at current American labor market data, it seems that you can find dangerous signs in the back hidden by the cyclical economic recovery cycle. And there seems to be an economist who sees such data as signs of "machine robbing human work like Google's automatic driving car or Amazon drone delivery".

However, it is never a brand new idea to imagine "the future that deprives me of work on machines due to technological progress." In the days of the Great Depression that took place around 1930, economist John Maynard Keynes said that "In 2030, due to technical progress weekly working hours will be reduced to 15 hours, so that we can enjoy abundant leisure time I guess it will be. " In addition, Herbert Hoover, then president of the United States, received a letter from the mayor of Palo Alto, saying that "Monsters like Frankenstein will destroy our civilization due to progress in industrial technology", It is said. Besides, the handicraft industry and laborers who fear the possibility of unemployment due to the spread of machines accompanying the industrial revolution "Ruddite movement"Is well-known as an exercise by people who are afraid of" the future that deprives me of my job. "

In fact, Professor Erik Brignolesson of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan Management School has said that "productivity gains and employment declines are due to technological progress" and in modern times " People are lagging behind because our technology and organization can not catch up. "

Will technology that continues to evolve rapidly deprive work from humans - GIGAZINE


Certainly, as computer evolution continues, the unit price of computing will also decline, which may lead to lower prices for daily necessities and luxury goods. However, as Professor Russo says, "If the disappearance of work leads to a cultural collapse", the prosperity of machinery causes massive unemployment and experiences changes in society at a level that has not been experienced by humankind until now You will be doing. That 's why "protecting the work done by human beings" can be very important.

ByChris Isherwood

However, economist Robert David Atkinson, who insisted that Professor Brinyolphson confronted himself in an upright position and claimed that "technology has never destroyed employment macroscopically, it never changes," There are people like Mr. Mr.

Workers are not deprived of work even if technology evolves and mechanization progresses - GIGAZINE