Originally Posted by
Lainey
Heard a lecture on c-span by Martin Ford, author of The Rise of the Robots - Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future. Basically he's saying a) it's happening faster than we think - projections are that 30% - 50% of jobs could be eliminated in the next two decades and replaced by technology, and b) he means middle-class jobs, not the factory jobs that have already gone. Very sobering, and he's not hysterical or into sci-fi, it's really happening.
Also happened to read a short article in THE WEEK dated June 26 in which he is also quoted. He said that in China, "tens of millions of factory workers are now increasingly being displaced by machines with significant consequences for China's economy - and the world's." He also said Foxconn, a Chinese company which makes products for Apple, Sony, and Microsoft "will automate 70% of its factory work within 3 years." Ford thinks China will face a "staggering challenge" as it becomes ground zero for the robot revolution because they're already struggling to employ their college graduates.
I have not yet read Ford's book but he thinks one outcome of this robot revolution may be that we will have to decouple income from having a job in order for people to just stay alive. A whole new paradigm, very interesting.